


OUTCASTED

by Suprgal



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Action, Angels, Angsty Stuff, Brothers, Demons, F/F, F/M, Fanfic, Hell, Horror, Island - Freeform, Love, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, Murder, Original Content - Freeform, Plot Twist, Psychological Thriller, Romance, Sacrifice, Sex, Sexual Tension, Smut, Supernatural - Freeform, angel - Freeform, dark side, evil brother, mid-pace burn, relationship, some actual fluff coming, twilight - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 14:21:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19395937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suprgal/pseuds/Suprgal
Summary: Edward Cullen is a diner cook who's spent his entire life being compared to his once perfect now deceased brother, James. Years after his brothers death he now lives in Reno, Nevada. On the night he gets fired, Edward visits club Flytrap, where he meets a strange girl named Isabella. Things take a turn for the worst when he finds out she's a demon from Hell who claims to know his brother.





	1. Tout ce qui Brille

2017 - Reno, Nevada

(*Everything that shines)

The first time I saw her she was sitting on the roof of Club Flytrap. It was a hot night and it didn't help the lack of windows inside the club. My clothes were sticking to me, the beads of sweat dripping from my forehead and onto the dirty sticky floor.

When was the least time they cleaned this place, it smelled like shit, humidity and sweat, yet everyone seemed to enjoy coming to Flytrap. Every single Friday it filled with metal heads, junkies, women looking for one night stands, women acting like they weren't looking for one night stands, men hoping women would brush by and touch their dicks accidentally. It was an old ran down place but it was a good place to get wasted and that was the plan tonight.

I chugged down the last few drops of my warm beer and placed it on the bar stool,

"Man, you really need to loosen up, it's not the end of the world! Look on the bright side, that bitch had been giving you shit since the moment she hired you, and to be frank-" Emmett took a chug at his beer following it with a drag of his cigarette "that job was shitty anyhow, I mean you didn't really expect to be flipping those burgers at Kirks forever man" the tone of his voice led me to believe it wasn't a question. Emmett and I met when I first moved to Reno from Forks, his ex girlfriend Rose was my landlord and somehow we both managed to get along through shared interest for Three Days Grace and menthol cigarettes.

Truth was, I liked working at Kirks Diner, sure the pay was shit but I would come out of my apartment and just have to cross the street to get to work, plus like he said, I didn't have to do much, just flip the burgers and flip Joane the bird whenever she had her back to me. She always gave me a hard time, but it's not like it was for no reason, granted there was that one time she came on to me and I turned her down, and she mostly hated me because I wanted nothing to do with her but I was also a late riser, so she put me for graveyard shift hoping it would make a difference, it didn't. Not to mention there always happened to be some booze by my work station, in my defense I was a better cook and a friendlier worker when there was a little oil in my engine.

"Whatever man, I'm gonna go piss" I felt the booze really hit as I walked to the men's bathroom, the whole room became a mixture of blurry lights and sounds. I wiped my face and felt the sweat come off me like dirt.

Shit, I was wasted. I pushed the bathroom door open, the sudden bright lights blinding me.

"What the-" I squinted and rubbed my eyes, maneuvering my way to the nearest stall I went in and closed the door behind me, unzipping my jeans and letting it all pour into the toilet. I closed my eyes in relief but heard a sudden grunt coming from the stall besides me. I disregarded it, thinking it might just be someone taking a dump but the grunt was followed by a deeper grunt and then a low moan.

I zipped my pants and lowered my head only to see four pairs of legs shuffling around the stall.

"Oh! what the fuck man!" I banged on the door separating the two stalls,

"Get the fuck out" said one of the voices from inside the adjacent stall; I quickly opened the door and left the bathroom, forgetting to wash my hands and wiping them on my denim jacket. I wasn't going in there again. The loud roars of the techno music surrounded my ears, vibrating every cell in my body. The room felt even more crowded than before. I looked besides me, a couple sat by the stairs,

"What's upstairs?" I closed up on them but it was too difficult for them to hear me,

"Huh?" the man mouthed,

I pointed my finger to the roof and repeated in a higher tone,

"WHAT'S UPSTAIRS?"

"THE ROOF" he shouted back and mouthed something to the girl besides him.

I looked back to the bar; Emmett was talking to some busty blonde, probably trying to brush his dick accidentally against her back like all the other men in this bar. I knew if I went back I'd have to entertain the blondes friend and I really wasn't in the mood to be a wing man tonight.I was int he mood for fresh air. My legs dragged me up the stairs and out into the hot Nevada air.I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to collect myself, maybe I had one too many beers, maybe I shouldn't have drank those shots, maybe I shouldn't have told Joanne to walk into a moving van and then maybe I'd still have my job.

My stomach turned in agreement.

I opened my eyes and noticed the figure of a girl sitting on the edge of the roof. She was calmly taking a drag of her cigarette and blowing the smoke out into the dry dessert air. Her long brown curls blowing along with the smoke.

She hadn't noticed I was there because she didn't budge when I approached her.

"That shit will kill you" I said and cleared my throat, she turned around abruptly, there were fresh tears rolling down her eyes, she brought the back of her hand to her face and wiped the tears away.

Her warm brown eyes taking a quick look at mine before turning back around. Her face was masked with soft freckles, mostly around her nose, a soft button one framing her small face. I wanted to take a pen and connect her freckles like constellations. There was a piercing on her bottom lip, it was a silver hoop. My eyes followed her lips and the hoop as she chuckled,

"I'm already dead, everyone else is just speeding the process" she said soft and low, her calm demeanor made me feel instantly calmer.

I began to move closer,

"Mind if I sit?"

"Would it matter if I did? I can't stop you from doing it" she let out another puff of smoke, this time it stayed in a thick could over us, there was no wind to blow it away.

I sat beside her, not to close to feel like I was invading her space but close enough to smell the scent of grapefruit and cigarettes oozing off her skin.

"I wouldn't if you didn't want me too" she looked back at me, this time she analyzed me with curiosity in her eyes, looking at me from head to toe. "Want a smoke?" I nodded my head and took out my own pack of menthol's, realizing it was empty I chuckled and replied, "I could use a smoke" She pulled out a box of Solent Cigarettes, and for a slight second I thought of James, his favorite brand. She lit one cigarette with her own and passed it to me. I took a drag and exhaled the smoke, any feelings of discomfort exhaled as well.

Her face was swollen from crying as were her eyes, she wiped remaining tears away again, her nails were an electric blue and they reminded me of my summers in Hawaii when I was younger. Our family had a house there and we would go every summer, James and I would help dad fix his jeep in the morning and in the afternoons we would all head down to the beach until it was too dark to see the vast ocean around us.

"Are you okay?"

She turned her eyes towards me and studied my face for some king of actual interest,

"Do you know about the Pleiades?"

"Sounds familiar..." I recalled hearing that somewhere but couldn't quite remember,

She pointed towards the sky,

"See there, the shiny cluster of stars" I looked up trying to follow her finger but was unable to see what she was pointing at. I saw her eyes roll and she scooted closer and took my face in her hands, her warmth radiating all over the spot where her hands touched. "There!" It was hard to focus with her scent so pronounced besides me but I tried again and finally noticed it,

"Yeah! I see it!" it was just as she had said a cluster of extremely luminous stars all surrounding each other.

"Those are the seven sisters" she was speaking softly into my ear, her warm breath sending shivers down my spine,

"Story goes, there were seven sisters, who were so beautiful that Orion was constantly chasing them, but they did not share his feelings so they asked Zeus for help." Her hands began to slowly leave my face. I turned my face to face her; we were so close now I could smell the grapefruit scent coming from her hair, "Zeus felt pity for them so he turned them into doves" I closed my eyes and inhaled, filling my lungs with the intoxicating scent. My fingers began to twitch, I wanted to touch her. I balled my fists and tried to shake away the request my body wanted. I opened my eyes only to meet her lips, full and inviting.

"As doves, they flew up into the sky and found a place among the stars" she licked her lips and smiled, showing two perfect sharp fangs,

"That's actually fucked up, I feel bad for them"

"Me too" there was a sullen look in her eyes when she said that, even though she was smiling she didn't seem happy. She fixed her body and faced the street. I felt a sudden weight leave my lungs, had I been holding my breath this whole time?

"Why do I feel like you're trying to tell me something?"

"I did..just tell you something"

"Yeah but…"

I looked out into the street, a line of people waiting to get in followed by people walking to other destinations. I looked out farther ahead, mountains shaping the horizon in the darkness. Always there, protecting us from the outside world but keeping us locked in this furnace, or maybe it was just me who felt trapped, how ironic that I felt this way on the rooftop of Flytrap.

"What's your name?" she finally spoke, flicking the cigarette she had been holding out into the street, I followed it with panicked eyes,

Someone below screeched and cursed, the cigarette must've landed on them.

"Shit! You could've injured someone"

"Maybe" she chuckled once again "So what is it? Is it Erick?"

"Maybe? What does that even mean?" She didn't reply, instead she just watched me intently, looking through me with those dark eyes of hers.

"Is it John?" she elongated the word 'it', as if she was playing a little game.

"It's Edward" I continued, baffled and intrigued at her demeanor.

"Well, Edward, sometimes people need to be feel something, even if it's just a cigarette burn"

"That's nihilistic ass way of thinking" she placed both hands behind her and leaned back, tilting her head upwards and looking at the stars. There was a moment of silence; the light shinned on her hair showing its true auburn color.

"Tout ce qui brille n'est pas or"

I was about to ask her what she said but she stood up before I could manage the words,

"Where are you going?" I asked, also standing up.

"My cigarette is done, I'm leaving"

"What? No, I'll go down with you"

She smirked, "That's nice but I'm getting out of here" I began to stand, feeling the contents in my stomach twist and turn again, "It's barely midnight, will I see you again?"

"It was nice to meet you, John was it or was it Erick?" she smiled confidently, toying with me. She turned around heading towards the door. There was strange feeling in my stomach then, something inside of me wanted to hold her back from leaving. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was her scent,

"Wait, can we meet again? at least tell me your name!" but she was already gone. I stopped for a second, trying to collect my thoughts,

What do I do?

There was a ringing in my ears,

"What do I do?"

Follow her you common idiot

Follow her

Follow

Her

I ran for the door, swinging it open so hard it banged against the outside wall, startling the people at the end of the stairs. They all looked up as I ran down and pushed them out of the way. I frantically looked everywhere for any hints of her hair, her eyes, a lip piercing, but my search was disrupted by a sudden grip on my shoulder.

"Dude, I've been looking for you everywhere, where the fuck did you go?!" it was Emmett; he was piss drunk, stumbling over his words.

"Did you see a girl with a lip piercing pass by?"

"What? You into that goth shit now?" he laughed so hard he lost balance, clumsily tripping over his own feet and falling face forward onto the floor.

"Fuck man! Come on, let's get you home" I swung one of his arms over my shoulder and lifted him up. As I carried a half conscious Emmett outside of the club and managed to catch a cab, I scanned the crowd outside one last time, no signs of her. I rode home wondering if she was even real.


	2. Where We Are

2017 - Reno, Nevada

I woke up in cold sweat; a sudden sick feeling crept up my throat. I grabbed the trashcan that was intuitively placed beside my bed and threw up yesterday's breakfast. The sun was shining brightly through the window besides me making me squint and groan in aggravation. A horrible feeling crept up my head and reminded me never to drink again. I shrugged the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering why I was even getting up when I had nowhere to be, but a horrible taste in my mouth ached for a glass of water. I grabbed my glasses from the nightstand and looked around the apartment; beer bottles crowded the floor among the dirty laundry decorating the filthy half eaten plates of food I always swore I would wash but never actually did.

Fucking mess, I thought and felt the bile creep up again, making this the second round of throw up.

I stood up and walked over to the sink, grabbing a used cup from the floor on the way. I poured the water inside and chugged it down, feeling somewhat better but not near as good as I wanted to feel.

I took a whiff at my clothes; I smelled like piss, I couldn't remember the last time I showered.

I started to make my way over to the bathroom but something blocked the door on the other side. I pushed it harder, only to hear someone groan from inside,

"What the hell" Emmett cried,

Opening the door I found him lying beside the toilet, his arm dangling over it.

"Aw shit, I forgot I brought you here last night. How you feeling man?"

"How the fuck does it look like?"

"Ignore the question, need anything?" I chuckled, and I thought I looked bad but seeing Emmett I immediately felt like a shiny new coin.

He tried to get up but slipped and fell back down, "A hand" he reached out his arm all while groaning.

I took his arm and brought him to his feet,

"Thanks, is it cool if I lay on your bed for a bit?" I smelled like a flower next to Emmett, he had thrown up all over himself last night, how could he have missed the toilet?

"Go for it. I'm just going to shower. Take your shirt off though, and if Rose knocks do not open!"

He made a barfing noise, making me poke my head out and glare at him "I'm serious Emmett, do not open the fucking door for her" he didn't answer but raised his hand giving me a thumbs up.

I took off my clothes and threw them on the floor along with my glasses, then jumped in the shower. The cold water sent shivers down my spine, but I quickly got accustomed to it. I closed my eyes and relaxed, feeling the water flow all over my sore muscles. A sudden vague recollection of dark brown eyes flashed through my mind Then I recalled the scent of grapefruit. The memories came fast, her soft voice, the way she said my name. I reached my hand down to my groin groped my member.

A banging on the door stopped me from going any further,

"Ed, there's someone here looking for you"

I turned the water off and cursed under my breath, if Emmett opened the door for Rose I was going to really punch him in the throat. I didn't have this month's rent, and I was already two weeks late. I took a towel and wrapped it around my torso, not daring to put the dirty clothes I slept with back on.

I opened the door and faced Emmett,

"What the fuck did I say Emmett?" I whispered and pushed him hard onto the bed "Don't fucking move" I headed towards the front door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

I had to come up with an excuse for the late rent and fast, otherwise I would be having to start settling down under the bridge near King St.

"Heyyy Rosie, I know I kn-"

I opened the door but it wasn't Rose that stood there. My eyes were met with familiar dark brown ones placed on a small pale face, framed by two messy pigtails.

It was her, the girl from Flytrap.

"Edward" she said, my body suddenly felt like butter, I closed my eyes and wished at that moment I would've been wearing my glasses. My throat had dried up, I felt my dick twitch under my towel, reminding me of the dirty deed I was just doing in the bathroom.

"Your name is Edward right?" she asked again with furrowed brows,

I swallowed hard, coughing in the process, a pool of water forming around my feet.

"Um yeah, Edward I am...I mean I'm Ed..ward.."

I took a deep breath and tried it again,

"I'm Edward"

There was a grin playing on her lips, I spotted the piercing and yesterdays memories came flying back. It definitely was her but what was she doing here? How did she find me? Her eyes followed something behind me, curious girl she was, and then she turned her gaze back at me,

"So you're gonna wait until I have a heat stroke or are you gonna invite me inside?"

I looked inside hoping Emmett has suddenly turned into the best friend and at least picked up some of the trash on the floor, but when I looked around it was exactly the same and he was perched on the bed with an incredibly quizzical expression on his face,

"Ehh..It's not in the best-"

It was too late to make up an excuse; she had pushed my arm and walked inside. I cursed under my breath while softly closing the door behind me.

She was small, smaller than I remembered but then again I was taller than your average 28 year old so mostly everyone seemed small to me. Her pigtails bobbed up and down as she roamed the small studio. Emmett stood up as soon as she walked inside, he was clearly flexing because his voice came our strained.

"Hello there, I'm Emmett" he reached out his hand towards her; I could see she was hesitating to take it but finally gave in and gave it a quick shake.

"Sorry about the mess, I haven't been home lately" I lied and I could tell she was unconvinced.

"Can we talk?" she looked back over to Emmett "In private?"

But he wasn't listening; he kept staring at her with lustful eyes, typical Emmett, his eyes tried to decipher what she was wearing underneath her orange jacket, slowly falling down to her bare legs, his mouth salivating like a dog looking at a juicy steak. A feeling surged through my body, heat radiating up my neck and down to my palms.

"You good to get home on your own then, Em?"

He snapped out of his daze, his eyes looking back and forth from her to me.

I put it nicely enough, I think. I was tempted to say 'Get the fuck out' and kick him out of the door but my sense of chivalry had suddenly appeared this morning. My eyes gave him a stern glare; he seemed to get the point,

"Y-yeah, I'll call you later then" he looked back at her and smiled widely, "Good to meet you."

"Yeah, you too."

He grabbed his phone from the kitchen counter, grinning at me before closing the door behind him. I rolled my eyes, sighed and turned back to face her, she was already sitting on the bed, her eyes scanning mine with curiosity. I looked down and realized I was only wearing a towel, I jumped in embarrassment,

"Oh shit! Give me a second okay, don't look"

A playful grin formed on the corners of her lips, she lifted a hand and covered her eyes. I ran to the closet and tried to find my favorite shirt, but it smelled like someone died while wearing it. Everything smelled like decayed bodies. The last clean shirt I had was a Christmas present I got from my dad six years ago, in it Santa was riding his slay, chanting 'HO HO HO'.

I put the shirt on and cursed at myself and at my dad for being such a complete bastard.

I couldn't find any decent and clean briefs; it would have to be a free balls day. Next I put on some jeans that were laid on top of the electric fan, they seemed to be somewhat clean when I smelled them. I peeked behind me and noticed her fingers on her eyes were spread apart; the mischievous grin that was there previously was still present now. I felt the heat rise to my face and spread over my neck once again.

"Hey you! No peeking!"

"Sorry, I couldn't help it, I'm a sinner. You can't really believe if you tell someone not to look, they won't look. Honestly it's universal, for go ahead and look!"

I gave her a tight-lip expression, "That tells me a lot about your credibility."

"Okay fine, scouts honor, I won't look this time" the gap between her long fingers closed once again, but the mischievous grin still resided.

I rushed to the bathroom and tried comb my finger through my hair, but to no avail, it just didn't want to stay in one place. After a few seconds of adjusting myself in the mirror and debating whether I should put my glasses on or off I managed my way outside the small bathroom and back into the living-room slash kitchen slash bedroom with glasses fogged from the heat.

"Are you decent, Edward?"

"Define decent" I straightened my shirt and fixed my glasses; she lowered her hand,

"Nice shirt" she chuckled. I folded my arms across my chest, trying to shake the strange uncomfortable feeling spreading through me.

"So…" I began,

"You must have questions but right now I can only answer one, so make it a super jolly good one" her eyes went back down to my sweater and a small chuckle left her lips.

The pain in my head returned, this was not the kind of morning I was planning to have after a long night of binge drinking. In actuality, I was really hoping I would come out of the bathroom and she would be naked on the bed; there was a certain disappointment when I found she was fully dressed and asking me to think about a specific question.

I searched my thoughts for the best question to ask out of all of them but the incessant tapping of her foot on the floor didn't let me concentrate,

"Okay, what's your name?"

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief,

"Really? You don't want to know how I found you? There's 307 Edward's in Reno, did you know that?"

"Well, you keep tapping your foot and I'm still hungover, and you said to only ask one question so I thought at least knowing what to call you would be a good start"

She stood up and looked outside the window, the sun rays peeking through the shutters brought auburn hair to life on each spot it touched.

She turned and faced me once again,

"Isabella, Bella for short"

I repeated the name in my head, 'Bella', I was actually glad she didn't give me some kind of nickname like purple haze or dessert flower, meant she was a decent chick of sorts, or that at least she wasn't a prostitute which has happened to me more than once.

"Good! See not so difficult, you could've told me your name last night instead of running out of the door and disappearing. So how did you find me?"

"That's two, I belief I said only one question"

I laughed, I thought maybe I could trick her into thinking it was just cordiality to tell me her name.

"Listen Edward," her facial expression changed, her eyes seemed concerned, haunted. Her a much deeper tone than what she had started out with.

"I think you might need to sit down for what I'm about to tell you,"

I tittered,

"Sit down? For what? Did you find something strange while I was in the bathroom, cause I swear that's not even mine, Emmett-"

"Sit" My legs instantly led me to the bed, I did as she said and sat down. She walked over to the kitchen counter and leaned against it. For a minute she was quiet, her expression led me to belief that she trying to decipher something in her head.

"You're killing me here smalls" I grinned and watched her legs fold,

"I'm going to ask you some questions, answer them honestly"

"Are you a cop?" I chuckled nervously, eyeing the bong on top of the fridge,

"Please"

"Okay, shoot"

She stared at me intently,

"Is your name Edward Adam Cullen"

No wonder she found me so quickly,

"Yeah? how did you-" She put a hand out in front of her,

"Where you born in Forks on March 1st, 1987 to parents Carlisle and Esme Cullen?"

This was starting to get a little weird,

Who was this girl? How did she know that?

"I don't have any social media, so how do you know that? Emmett is on to this? this is a joke isn't it?"

"Just answer the question, Edward" I rolled my eyes and played along, still feeling uncomfortable about a stranger knowing so much about me.

"Yeah that's my birthday, those are my parents…still alive and well, I hope"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she hesitated before asking the following question,

"Is your brother…" she hesitated "James Cullen?"

My heart felt like it stopped, the pain in my head grew stronger. Someone was hammering my brain it felt like it was about to explode, all the noise outside grew louder. I stood up, holding my head with both hands, trying to shut out the outside noise. In the background I could hear her repeating the question, asking if I was okay.

Her hand reached out to touch my arm and I felt her cold icy fingers bring me back to reality.

"WHO ARE YOU?" I shouted at her recoiling at her touch, she backed away surprised. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Calm down, I just want to help"

"Help with what?! You come into my home, a stranger, asking all kinds of weird questions and yet you expect me to just answer without any hesitation? How do you know who I am? How did you know my brother?"

There was a pitiful expression in her eyes that made me feel sick again,

I was utterly bewildered. The confusion was partly due to the fact that everything was happening so fast and partly because she had never responded to any of my questions, I didnt know anything about her and she knew so much about me. I took pride in feeling outcasted, knowing that only a handful of people really knew me, it was all because I let them in.

"Did? No Edward…I know your brother"

"My brother is dead, you got that wrong" I felt all the years of pent up hate and sadness hit me again like tidal wave. I slumped down on the edge of the bed and took off my glasses, rubbing the bridge of my nose. I hadn't heard his name out loud in five years; I left my home because it was too hard to bear, all the memories of him, all the constant reminders from my parents that I would never fill the void that he had left, that when he died it was as if I died along with him. He was their first for them, and I was just what happened to come along after, the mistake they had no choice but to live with.

I held back the tears and raised my head when she touched my shoulder, my eyes meeting hers.

"Edward" her voice was low as she sat beside me, "Your brother James, he's not dead"


	3. The Marble

2017 - Reno, Nevada

"It's your brother, I know where he is " Her words echoed in the background.

My insides twisted and turned at that moment making me wish the earth would swallow me whole.

Why was she doing this? Why would anyone do this?

"He's not dead, Edward...well technically he is but you can see him again"

"What are you talking about? What the fuck are you saying?!" I spat, shrugging off her arm again and standing up.

I walked over to the sink and held myself up against the counter.

"Get out...Get out or I'll call the cops" Bile sat on the back of my throat, slowly finding its way back out for the third time.

"What do I get out of this, why would I waste my time trying to fuck with your head?"

The room felt even smaller than it already was, I felt myself struggling to breathe.

"Just listen to me, please, maybe after I explain everything to you then you will understand, just give me a chance"

I turned to face her, she stood up and took a step towards me,

"Don't come near me" the words struggled to come out "Get out" my first itched to break something apart,

"Please, just hear me out, if you don't want to believe me after I'm done, then I will leave and you will never see me again, but at least just let me explain"

A part of me wanted to kick her out, bury myself under those covers and wallow in my misery. I want to forget his eyes, something I've tried to do for so long and had managed to succeed until now. Yet a bigger part needed to hear what she had to say, I could see his smile again and I knew it would be long before I could bury it from my mind after she had gone.

"You know, you're not easy to summon" she stepped back and leaned against the wall, rubbing her sleepless eyes with both hands.

"Summon? Are you a psycho? Did you get out of a mental hospital and I was the first person you spoke with?"

She took a few seconds before continuing,

"This body you see in front of you, it's not real...in this world at least. I am allowing you to see me." I opened my mouth, but she stopped me before I could say a word,

"I know what this must sound like to you, but let me finish"

"Why should I, you're a damn stalker" she grinned and shook her head in disbelief,

"Really Edward? a stalker? I think above all things, stalking some lanky boy who lives in a shithole in the middle of nowhere would be my last resort"

I tightened my lips together and let her absurd story continue. She sighed and motioned toward the only empty chair in the room,

"I am what you humans would call a demon, a devil, an evil spirit among others, but where I come from we are called Nurims." Bella sat on the chair and tucked a loose hair behind her ear "Your brother, when he died he went to the underworld, he is a Nurim just like I aml"

"You're saying my brother is in hell and hes a demon" I chuckled heading towards the door, this shit was too classic, a crazy stalker,

She didn't reply, instead she leaned back and waited for a reaction.

"You're wasting my fucking time, how do you expect me to believe this shit?"

"In Hell there are 7 Gates, your brother was put into the third Gate. It is where I am from. Each Gate is ruled over by a Clan, ours is the third gate; Clan Akvan."

"Clan Akvan, is it?" my hands rubbed the bridge of my nose as I laughed forcefully,

"Yes, named after our founding Nurims. He was one of us, our brother"

He was her brother?... He was MY brother, his blood still flowed thick through my veins. The blood I wished so many times was still flowing through his dead corpse. If he was the one here, he would have laughed in her face and dragged her ass out on the street, but he wasn't, to her he was in Hell playing the brother role with a bunch of demons.

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, what is it you want?"

I was never religious, my mother would read stories from the Bible to us when were younger but as I got older they all became just that; stories.

"James was never keen on being led, he was always angry, always too greedy." That sure sounded just like my brother, I felt the pounding in my head return steadily.

"He didn't like being bossed around. Jacob our clan leader would always seem to bump heads with him, but it would just be stupid arguments, pissing contests you know how he is, he's your brother after all"

My hands shook as I walked to the fridge and poured myself another glass of water, quickly chugging it down. Isabella paced around the room, sometimes looking out of the window while talking,

"After one delicate job, James and Jacob had another one of their arguments, always the same, James didn't like the way Jacob handled things, Jacob didn't like his authority being questioned, even less challenged. We were used to it by then, we paid no mind to it. James knew Jacob was stronger, faster, and older Nurim it would've been stupid to challenge him in a duel..." I could see she was thinking back to that certain day.

"It was not like one of their usual arguments..James, he was different…his eyes" Bella seemed lost in the memories, I placed the glass down and she took a deep breath before continuing "It was not just words this time. It was too late to stop them" Her voice cracked and she wrapped her arms around herself, almost as if shaking away the dreadful memories. I could see by the way she spoke she was genuinely scared then just reliving the events of that night.

She composed herself, turning quickly to face the window.

"Like I said, Jacob was stronger, there was no way he could of beat him by himself."

"No one intervened? That's how he is, James is...impulsive and hard headed, but he would do no real harm"

A memory made it's way through my thoughts,

A cloudy afternoon, the salt from the ocean could be tasted on my tongue. My skinny legs running fast behind James.

"QUICKLY" he shouted, I couldn't see his face, only his blonde hair flowing behind him with the wind.

He ran and jumped over rocks, leading us through the beach and into a small cave. Finally, he stopped besides something.

The way she spoke about Jacob sent a wave of heat through my body, the same feeling I felt when Emmett trailed her body with his eyes, she was so confident in his abilities.

"But that night, he was not alone. We realized quickly after that James had made a deal with Clan Belphegor's leader, Victoria. She's the watcher of the 7th Gate. Long ago Belphegors and Akvans went to war, there had always been loathing between us. Victoria would stop at nothing to eliminate us, and now with James help, she could actually make it possible. This is where you come in"

"Who ME?" I chuckled at her request." Everything you said could be a lie for all I know. Demons and Gates, it all sounds-"

"They took him, Edward, they took Jacob. He is the only one who can lead our clan, our Gate is in chaos. Hell itself is in chaos. To make matters worse, Victoria wants the 7 Gates. She wants to rule them all and somehow has brainwashed James into helping her. No one has ever tried to do such thing, but they are unstoppable and everyday they get stronger, everyday they massacres towns. He already has the Second and Fourth Gate under him."

I pulled on my hair, trying to think "But this is HELL for gods sake, it's just to be expected" everything I knew from stories was Hell was a place for bad people and good people went to Heaven where it was all nice and there was only one damn Gate.

"Forget every bullshit story you've ever heard or read, this isnt what you think it is, theres good people in Hell. There are innocent people down there, people who have jobs and duties. Children who were never baptized, mothers who sinned because they were left with no choice, men who don't deserve a forsaken eternity...there's...me" our eyes met then, her brown ones melting into my soul. How could she be evil? she looked so...innocent.

How could James have done all of the things she said he did, how is any of this possible? I felt a bead of sweat drop down my back.

My glasses felt heavy on my face, "Even if what you're saying is true, and my brother was-" she interrupted "is" I took a deep breath before continuing, "Is some kind of Demon Lord taking over the doors of Hell"

"Gates," Isabella rectified, "They're gates" she uttered in exasperation,

"Sure, gates, whatever. What I'm I supposed to do about it? Not only I'm I human, but have you looked at me?"

She roamed her eyes over my 6'2 scrawny body, her features contemplating what I was saying and possibly agreeing in her mind. How could she even expect anything from me, she was talking about demons, last time I checked, they were stronger beings that could make themselves invisible and probably drank blood. The last time I did something heroic was when I stopped the diner from catching on fire.

"He is your brother! He will listen to you," I chuckled, my legs moved around the room trying to find a comfortable spot. I closed my eyes and relived the memory once again,

James stood beside what seemed like a thick, large black rock. I walked closer, my knees buckling, and looked down at a dying seal. Part of it's tail had been cut off with something. Bloody scratches grazed it's chest. I looked into it's eyes and could see the pain it was enduring, mixed with the fear of death. My eyes moved to James face, his smile widened, his eyes full of excitement. In his hands he held dads old machete. My hands trembled, beads of sweat ran down my forehead despite of the ocean breeze. I looked back up at him and shook my head. He held the machete closer to me,

"Do it"

I backed up, but my foot caught on an edge of two rocks and I fell hard on the sand. My throat closed up and the tears began to fall down my cheek. In a moment I was sobbing.

"James no, please, please..." I begged, he raised the machete above his head,

"NO!" I tightened my eyes closed...

"James has never listened to anyone a day in his life. Why would he listen to me?"

"Because he loves you" her eyes locked with mine again, somehow it was the way she looked at me that made me feel like everything she was saying could possibly not be complete bullshit. I wanted to believe that he loved me, everyday for four years I asked myself if he ever did, certainly not like I loved him. A sinking feeling roamed on the bottom of my stomach.

Love?…I wasn't sure he felt that kind of emotion for anyone.

"How do you think I know about you? A year on Earth is a decade in Hell and there was not a day your brother didn't mention you" Her eyebrows met in the middle, she swallowed hard, trying to choke down another word but instead she fished out something from the pocket of her shorts.

Isabella walked over to where I stood and took my hand in hers, she placed something in my palm. I didn't have to look at it to know what it was.

A black and red marble rolled on my palm. My eyes began to swell, a tear dropped down and caressed the shiny surface.

I turned it with my fingers and saw the memorable dent on the back.

Another memory placed itself amidst the confusion; seven year old James placing the marble in my hands,

"Here, happy half birthday little brother"

I closed my hand and felt the marble pulsing inside my palm,

"A..marble...?" I said in between sobs

"It's lucky! See the red scratch? Cool aint it?" He smiled wide, squinting his green eyes against the sun.

"Now you will get lucky too, so stop crying." I wiped the fresh tears from my sunburnt face and smiled.

"Edward, is everything alright?" I flinched at the feeling of her cold hands touching my face. Her face too close for comfort, I looked into her eyes once again and held her gaze, maybe there was something true about all of this.

"No, sorry…It's just too much" I took the marble and stuck it inside my jean pocket.

She moved back and watched me with sorrow in her face, she wanted to say something but instead gulped it down and moved towards the door, "I'll go"

Bella turned one last time to look at me before turning the doorknob and walking out. I sat on the bed and rolled the marble in my hand, 'James' I thought,

I closed my eyes and brought the marble to my ear, somehow I could hear the ocean. I stood up and quickly knew I would regret this exact moment, my legs moved on their own, leading me outside the apartment where the brightness of the sun blinded my view. My eyes began to accommodate to the sunlight and I realized Bella was leaning on the wall beside the door, waiting. She flashed me a toothy grin and flicked the cigarette she had just lit.

"That shit will kill you" I said and she laughed softly, her freckles lifting with joy.

"If there is any way I could see James one last time, I need to at least try. How about you take me to him"

There were so many things I needed to say to him, so many questions that needed to be answered. Maybe this was all fake, maybe she was insane, but that wouldn't explain how she had this marble. James was the only person who knew about it, and the last person who had it. I felt the weight of the marble in my back pocket.


	4. Flytrap

2017 - Reno, Nevada

She had a car, the demon who came to collect me and take me to hell, had an old red Yugo. I cringed as soon as I saw it, i believe it went from 0 to 60 in thirty minutes, with a couple of push starts. The inside was a poor excuse for leather, torn and worn out, it made a weeping sound as it started, like some ancient beast who had just been woken after years of undisturbed sleep.

To make matters worse, it didn't have any air conditioning. I cringed as the window lowered with a loud creaking noise, loud enough to make the bystanders wince in pain. The dry air immediately filled the car and surprisingly I was thankful for it. The car on the way to Hell was quiet for what seemed like an eternity. I pushed the buttons on the radio to try and alleviate the maddening silence.

"It's broken" she motioned towards the radio, go figure. I looked at her from my peripherals and tried to find something that would tell me she was not human, yet every small detail challenged me.

She eyed me from her peripherals, "At least I have a car" I suddenly choked on the dry air and the sudden slap in the face comment,

"Poor excuse for one" I whispered in between coughs, Bella glared at the road, "As opposed to your luxurious apartment and non existent car?" Touche, I thought.

"How exactly are we going to.." I cleared my throat "get to the Underworld?...I don't suppose we are taking the underground train" I was glad I still had some sense of humor about the whole ordeal but it didn't seem like she was fond of my jokes.

"There's a portal on the kitchen in Flytrap, we go through there"

"A portal?" I chuckled "How predictable-" a sudden grunt poured through my lips when something kicked the back of my seat. I jumped and turned to face Isabella.

"What the hell was that?"

Isabella abruptly turned the wheel towards the side and stopped the car on the side of the road. She turned around and stuck her hand on the back seat of the car. Her hand seemed to get a grip of something and a squeal came from its victim. The sound was immediately familiar to me. A head popped up and all my doubts were answered.

"Emmett?"

"Edwardddd, my main man" Emmett had that same stupid grin he always wore.

"This human is yours?" Isabella asked, still gripping the back of his neck.

"Yes-" Emmett furrowed his brows in fright,

"I mean no, he's not MY human, but I do know him" I reiterated and his sly smile was back.

Emmett struggled to speak with Isabella's grip on his neck, "See, he knows me, now can you let me go?" I then wondered how it was possible for such a large man to fit in the back of this small car without us noticing,

Her grip loosened and he shrugged her arm off.

"What in the world are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? You really think I'm gonna let you go to the Underworld on your own?" his voice was stern, I've know Emmett for a while and I knew he was much like me when he set his mind to something.

In the blink of an eye Isabella had a knife to Emmetts throat, a large and hook knife with an Ivory handle wrapped around his throat.

"What do you think you're doing?!" I yelled, Emmett was just as startled as I was.

"He knows too much, I cannot allow him to continue living" her voice was calm and even, as opposed to mine which was shaky and louder with every word. Emmett didn't move a muscle with the exception of forcing his eyes shut.

"You can't kill him?! Are you insane?" My hands were shaking, I could feel the fear oozing off his body, but her hand didn't budge, instead she held the knife closer to his neck.

"If you kill him, then you might as well kill me, because I will not go with you, alive"

Her eyes switched from mine to Emmetts,

"Please...he's...all I got" I held her sight for what felt like a lifetime and for a second I could see the sympathy in her dark eyes.

The car fell silent again, I could almost hear Emmetts heartbeat, pounding hard and fast in his chest. I feared he would collapse at any moment.

She retreated her knife from his neck slowly at that point Emmett exhaled deeply, he opened his eyes and looked at me, still alarmed but thankful.

"He cannot come with us"

Isabella turned to face the wheel, her face was back to it's naturally dark expression. I looked back at Emmett with downcast eyes.

"She's right. I could never put you in danger"

I could see her gripping the steering wheel, her hands tightening around it, something told me she had the strength to break it in half. Emmett was doing his incessant leg twitching in the back seat. The noise of the cars passing by on our sides and the wind flowing rapidly through the window served as a distraction from Isabella's hands on the wheel.

"I'm not letting you go alone, you don't even know this woman. You don't want to put me in danger? what about you? who holds you back from putting yourself in danger?"

I opened my mouth to say something but he continued,

"I am not letting you go alone. I don't need you to protect me Edward, you've always been there for me, its my turn to be there for you."

His eyes held a confidence I had never seen before. I hated having to involve him in my business just as much as I hated feeling protected but I knew that if he didn't come with me now, he would find a way to get there with or without me and in a way it felt good to have someone familiar with me, even though I knew I could not let him know that in front of her.

Isabella had let go the wheel when I looked over her hands were laying on her thighs and she was looking out to the highway. I was expecting her to argue, maybe pull her knife out again but instead she faced forward and started the car again and without saying a word we were back on the road.

We stood in front of Flytrap. The club felt like an abandoned building at this time. The strip was empty, unlike the night before where an abundance of people roamed the street. The sky was starting to get cloudy and I could smell the rain coming from the east.

What a coincidence this rain was, it hadn't rained for months, but somehow it felt like this rain held some meaning behind it.

I chuckled at the recent turn of events, just a few hours ago I was suffering from the worlds worst hang-over. I recounted the past few hours in my head, this could be a trap, I could be getting kidnapped for ransom but after I saw the marble there had to be some truth to her insane story. Maybe I'm just as gullible as everyone says. I'm following a random woman who says she is a demon, into hell.

What if I was still asleep, passed out in my bed, this could all be a dream.

I pinched myself as hard as I could but the pain felt completely real.

Emmett quizzically studied me, wondering why I would be laughing at a time like this. We both followed Isabella through a back door which led into the club. A brooding man who looked like he was in his early 50's sat on a stool near the bar. He was pouring some rum from a bottle of Bushmill into a glass. The lights were dim but as we drew closer I could see the mans face clearly.

"Isabella" he put down the bottle and stood up to embrace her. His hug was tight and full of affection, almost like a parent embracing their child. He let go and held her at arms length, analyzing her face and body.

"I am fine, it has only been four days Charlie" her voice was unusually soft,

"It's longer than necessary, you look weak my Bella"

"I'll be fine as soon as I'm back"

He frowned, "Somehow, I doubt that"

He let his arms fall and turned to face me, "This must be him" Charlie was a tall thin man, his face seemed worn and tired, the closer he got the more he reeked of alcohol.

His tight lip expression disapproving of the man he thought I would be. "Scrawny little thing you are, making my Bella run around looking for you" I could feel the animosity oozing through his wrinkles. He got even got closer, I noticed his hands were balled into tight fists at that moment I began to think of ways to defend myself. There was a stool near me, I could hit him with it, but then there was Bella. I'm going to Hell, I bet dying by strangulation wont be as bad as how I could die down there. I was glad Emmett was with me, as I thought this I felt him move closer to me.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" He asked, stopping in front of me and staring down, waiting for what seemed like an apology. I couldn't keep my eyes off his clenched fists.

A sudden bark filled the silence in the empty club, snapping us out of our hostility. There was another bark, we quickly realized it was coming from Emmett's backpack. Everyone stood still, with the exception of Emmett who quickly took off his backpack and unzipped it.

Skully popped his brown head out and barked again,

"A dog?" Charlie asked, "You're taking a dog to the underworld?"

He turned to face Isabella, who had her hand on her face and was shaking it in disapproval. Charlie's laugh resonated through the entire place, echoing through the walls, leaving Emmett and I in complete shock. Then suddenly Emmett was laughing, and soon after I could feel myself smiling along.

Skully jumped out and ran up to Charlie, wagging his tail and laying down like he always did when he wanted to be petted. He was a mutt Emmett found behind Kirks four years ago and ever since they were practically inseparable. His gray hair stood up in patches through his small body. Some of the hair on it's face would go into his mouth and it always seemed like he was smiling, which was the main reason Emmett took a liking to him.

"You brought skully here? What is wrong with you?" I whispered to Emmett, making sure he was the only one who heard; even though Charlie wouldn't have been interested anyways since he was too busy falling for skullys permanent smile just as Emmett did four years ago.

"We have no time for this" Isabella cut in, heading to the door that led through the kitchen. Charlie stood erect and nodded.

"You all must go now, the portal cannot hold any longer"

I tightened the straps of my book bag and looked at Emmett, he stared back with the same expression of fear I felt. He nodded once in reassurance and gripped my shoulder, I thought to myself how glad I was that he was here.

"Let's do this then" the words leaving my lips gave me the confidence I needed.

We all followed Isabella into the kitchen, stopped in front of the freezer.

"This is it" she said, holding the door handle, "Hold on to my hand, otherwise the portal might send you to another gate, the vortex is strong, you must not let go of me"

"Isn't it ironic that the portal to Hell is inside a freezer?" Emmett snickered but everyone looked at him in disapproval, he cleared his throat and picked skully up, safely securing him in his backpack.

Isabella turned to Charlie, "Thank you for everything old friend." He smiled but there was sorrow in his expression.

"We will see each other again, my Bella, do not fret"

This time Charlie turned towards me and held my shoulder in his hand, "You..only you can change this. Don't fail me boy"

His words made my stomach turn, I knew that if I failed I would either die in Hell or come back and Charlie would kill me with those huge hands of his, either scenario wasn't exactly what I imagined my end would be like. Charlie, petted skully one last time before Isabella opened the freezer.

"Holy fuck, this is real" Emmett said exactly what I was already thinking,

Inside of the freezer a bright red light blinded me, an incredible wind coming out of it made it difficult to hear anything, it's pull was stronger than I imagined, it never seemed to end, the endless red. It seemed like a fire that would burn us alive as soon as we made contact with it. Isabella and I looked at each other, she smiled in reassurance and took my hand in hers, tightening her grip.

"Don't let go" she shouted.

I felt Emmett grip my other hand, I looked back towards him and smiled, he nodded in assurance just before we entered. I remembered seeing two incredible black wings resurface from Isabella's back, they where fearsome in length and width, my mouth opened in disbelief. A tail grew from her back, almost whipping me in the face. She turned her face towards me and smiled, revealing a sharp pair of fangs but it was her eyes I saw last, now the color of night.


	5. Mark 9:43

Year Unknown – The Underworld (Third Gate)

The suction of the portal felt strong enough to separate my skin from my bones. I held Bella's hand as tight as I could. Her hand against mine felt like melted steel, it was as if every piece of her being was on fire, melting every place it touched. I cried in pain, her nails once short had now turned into long claws that dug deep into my skin.

The pull was so strong I could barely breathe, I closed my eyes hoping then that it would end as quickly as possible, maybe I wasn't built for this, maybe I would die before actually getting to Hell.

Then suddenly as I was saying my last goodbyes a feeling of falling overcame me, there was no pull just a scorching hot wind blowing through my body, it felt like the skin on my body being burnt from the pressure. I opened my eyes and realized we were indeed falling and fast but I was alone, no longer did I have Bella's or Emmett's grasp. I looked down and the closer I got, the more it looked like I was falling into what looked like a sea of lava. This was a much worse way to die than before, much, much worse. I tried to look around for Bella's wings but she was nowhere in sight, I was falling so fast I couldn't properly move my head around to see if anyone was near me, instead I kept going in circles. I shut my eyes tight and my brothers face flashed in the darkness behind my lids. He seemed to mouth something but I could not make out the words.

Suddenly I felt the wind shift direction and a pair of claws dig tightly into my shoulders. I opened my eyes and looked up, a dark pair of wings hovered over me, they looked much larger now that I could really get a good look. Bella looked down at me and smiled, her fangs much larger than I recalled as well but something about it didn't frighten me, she was cute as hell.

I chuckled to myself, thinking that the phrase and actually meaning it, she really was from Hell, at least I hadn't lost my sense of humor.

I tried to turn and look for Emmett but her claws were dug so deep I could not move my head around, let alone my shoulders. I looked down and realized we were close to ground, apart from the sea of lava I had just encountered it was mostly a dry deserted vale of nothingness except sand. As we approached I noticed the shape of a man on the ground, he was dusting himself off, Emmett looked up and waved us over. My heart felt like it began to beat again, I was glad he was alive and I was beginning to think Bella had let him fall in the lava. Just then Bella tossed me from a great height and I tumbled down a hill of sand like a tumbleweed, landing right next to Emmett.

I reached the bottom and took a second to gather myself from the fall. Sand had managed its way into my mouth and ears, I spat it out with disgust. A human hand touched my shoulder, "You alright?" Emmett asked from above me, I was glad to have the shade that his body provided, taking the chance to adjust my eyes to the brightness and the incredible wind that kept blowing the sand up. He reached out his hand and helped me to my feet, I felt the sand cascade beneath my jeans and onto my shoes.

"Damn, It's fucking hot! hotter than I expected" I whined in exasperation, maybe the Christmas sweater wasn't such a great idea for a weekend in Hell but if anyone told me this morning I'd be here, I'd probably laugh and spit in their face for being so ridiculous.

"Looks like a storm is coming" He pointed towards the dark clouds that were quickly approaching us. I took the chance to look around me, in the near distance I could see a small town surrounded by a red flowing light.

"We should go quickly, before the blood storm" we turned abruptly at the sound of a new voice and saw Bella approaching us, she was back to her natural form yet her arms were covered in a scratches and sand had stuck to where the blood had dried,

"Shit! Does that hurt? We need to get you cleaned up immediately" I snatched her arm and examined the scratches. Bella tugged her arm away and wrapped it around herself, feeling suddenly nervous and shy.

"I'm fine it just looks bad, changing forms takes a toll on Nurims. I'll heal in minutes." Emmett winced as if the scratches were on him, I recalled how much he hated blood.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure" she said, clearing her throat,

"Now that we've established she's fine, can we can out of here before this damn Blood Storm begins" Emmett fidgeted nervously with the zipper of his book bag and placed a distraught Skully on the sand besides him.

"He's right, the gate should be near by" Bella said while stepping back from Skully with distaste, who seemed just as interested in her scent as I was. "We should go, the blood can cause hallucinations and fevers, so I recommend we move fast" The clouds were approaching faster, the metal smell of blood was beginning to surround the air around us. I was still trying to understand how all this was possible.

We followed Bella through what felt like endless mountains of sand, the wind made it harder for us to see the path but she seemed to know exactly where she was going, nonetheless she was our only guide.

Droplets of blood had begun to fall around us making Emmett all the more uneasy. Every time I looked behind me he would be mumbling curse words under his breath. I wasn't any more jubilant than he was, everything felt unreal, not to mention my body felt weaker the longer we walked.

"Tell me again how far your place is?"

"Close enough" She said.

"How close exactly?"

"About seven miles or so...why?"

"We're getting there on foot?" I asked, "How else? You have no wings, and I've exhausted my rune"

I don't think I'd ever walked seven miles in my life, my body felt heavy under my feet and the sand didn't make it any easier to walk. I considered that I had no other options and continued behind her.

"What do you mean by rune?"

"Yes, it is a link to the underworld. All Nurims garnish the power and use it to their advantage, whether it's flying or changing shapes. It is a mastered art per-se, a link to our demon selves but it takes a toll on our stamina...I guess I haven't mastered it yet" her voice went low on the last bit,

"That's awesome" I watched her, trying not to look at the way her breasts jolted when she walked.

"Awe-some? It is not so great...compared to what you have" her eyes found mine, I felt a lump in my throat, I hated myself for not finding the right words to say at the right moment, all I could do was look at her.

"Thank you, Edward Cullen. You don't know how much this means, the amount of courage it takes-" her honey combed eyes melting with each gaze. I reached out my hand hesitantly but before I could touch hers she raced forward,

"There it is! We're close!" she pointed to the village and motioned us to follow along.

Finally, we saw what looked like a small village, it was surrounded by some sort of magnetic energy that glowed a vivid red. The blood had begun to pour harder, tainting our skin and clothes a garnet red.

The moment the blood touched his face, Emmett immediately ran faster towards the village followed by a heaving Skully who didn't seem so keen on the idea of blood rain either. Bella turned towards me surprised at his sudden energy,

"He's not much of a fan of blood" I answered the question I was sure she was thinking.

"Say, isn't he a bit of a contradiction, such a big man with such emotions."

I chuckled in agreement, Emmett had always been a bit of wimp, much to my liking in all honestly. He was big but inside he was like a warm marshmallow, basking in the fire.

As soon as we approached the magnetic field we stood back, my head followed the red energy all the way up, it didn't seem like it ever ended.

"This is the gate- " she made a long pause while looking it over.

"I must warn you both, once you reach inside, do not mention you are human to anyone unless I say so. They will smell your scent and know you are different but do not for any reason to say you came from above" she looked over to Emmett who was hooping from one leg to the other.

"Are you alright Emmett?"

"No, I have to piss" he said.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to her,

"What are we supposed to say then, if they can smell us wouldn't that give us away?"

She took out the knife she had on her hip, it had been covered by her jacket. It's ivory handled looked too big for her small hands, the crook of its shape long and intimidating.

Emmett stepped back, wide eyed "I took you from Purgatory and brought you here"

"Easy enough"

"But- you must drink my blood it is the only way to mask the spell"

The blood rain was becoming stronger, I could feel the drops running thick down my face and pooling on the sand.

"No fucking WAY. Last time you took that thing out it almost cut me open from ear to ear" Emmett yelped,

"If you don't they will immediately know you are human" Bella drew closer, her huge knife in hand made me shift in response.

"The things they will do in there-" her hand pointed towards the village "Will be worse than drinking my blood Edward." her face was stern.

Was she telling the truth? She hadn't any reason to lie, after we've gotten this far. The marble began to ooze heat from my pocket, reminding me why I was really here.

"Okay fuck it, we'll drink it"

"No, the fuck we won't!" Emmett fought,

I turned and saw how scared he really was, we were in Hell after all, any man or woman would be terrified to just be here but she was asking him to do something beyond his fear.

"Emmett, I know you're scared but we have to do this. We can't stay in this rain, hallucinate and fever up until our limbs are too weak to go back home. We just drink it quickly and get it over with and then we'll be inside, safe from this damn rain." I tried to be as gentle with my words as possible, knowing anything could be said the wrong way. His eyebrows lifted, our eyes deadlocked. He knew I wouldn't put him in danger, he had to know that.

He looked from me to Bella and whispered, "Fine"

I turned to face her, she smiled but didn't say anything. Bella took the knife and cut her wrist swiftly and with precision, a collective amount of what looked like black blood poured out, she motioned towards me to drink. I hesitated at the sight of her blood; black and thick.

I heard Emmett's voice in the background, he winced in pain "Why does it have to be black" he whispered.

I took her hand in mine and raised it to my mouth, hesitating once more before putting my lips on the gash. The blood was smooth and pungent it flowed down like a water. My body instantly began to feel stronger, the cuts on my hands from falling and landing on them immediately healed. It began to taste better the more I drank but before I could get accustomed to the taste she winced and pulled her hand back.

It became clear when I saw her face that I drank more than I should have, Bella wasn't an expressive person, her smile was usually a slight turn of the lips but she was shocked and I couldn't tell whether it was a good or bad thing but suddenly I could feel her inside of me, her blood had a life of its own, flowing and forcefully surging through every stream of consciousness.

Although Emmett was queasy at first, he drank her blood when the rain began to pour. Unlike me, he took just a bit of it and pulled her wrist away while attempting to puke it out.

"Good enough" she said, the gash in her hand healing just as quickly as she cut it. Bella turned towards the gate and whispered what sounded like a dialect I'd never heard before,

"Avhird gaave, hap yu dar avour yu liel ukervanav"

The light shifted to a green color and we followed quickly behind her into The Third Gate. Inside it was not raining, instead it was dark and storm-like, the sky covered the Village like an impossibly black dome, obscuring any light apart from the lightning that crowded behind the clouds.

"Whoa" I leaned back,

Bella who had just finished saying spell to seal the gate turned towards me.

"Edward?" Bella asked, "What's wrong?"

"...There's more light in Reno" I said, "and mountains"

"This is how it normally is here, it won't rain today but the sky will stay this way. You won't ever see the sun, I suggest you get accustomed for now" she sounded reminiscent, but then again i would be too if I was forced to spend eternity in a place like this. I looked at the Village, a deserted place with scattered pit houses built of logs and sealed with dirt and bark. The sand had ended at the entrance of the gate instead beneath us the ground was a wet mud that covered our shoes and made it difficult for us to walk without sticking to it.

"Where is everyone?" Emmett wondered, exactly what I had been thinking as well.

"Hiding-ever since news of James betrayal reached the Village, everyone has been too afraid to leave their homes" Bella was resentful and angry at James, something in her voice was audibly obvious about that. We walked through the empty Village and saw each door painted with a black mark, the same consistency and color of blood.

We stopped in front of a larger structure, Bella turned around before opening the doors "Let me do the talking, please" Emmett grunted when she turned and nudged me with his shoulder, furrowing his brows like a child when they're told they can't eat the cookie before dinner.

The door gaped open with resounding harshness, the dim light that was inside immediately died and shadows moved swiftly through the room, if it weren't for the reflection of the outside on the silver of their weapons I would not have seen them. They were quick, quicker than anything I'd ever seen before. Four kunai knifes flew right by my cheek, although one of them cut the immediate top flesh, three of them were all caught by Bella, who maneuvered quickly enough to catch them. I stood still, alarmed with fear and distress, not even feeling the pain of the cut.

"Nauk-lax! iav'uk alnej, Iukabella"

My chest heaved up and down and I counted every face in the room.

For every person in the room I counted my heart beat faster and louder.

One, Two, Three - My eyes moved to the two in the ceiling - Four, Five, - Two more in the darkness besides me - Six, Seven.

Seven, there were seven of them.

"Isabella, you have returned."

Eight.

A stern and husk man voiced behind me. I turned slowly, careful enough not to make any sudden movements and saw a large shape move from the shadows and into the light. The features of a Native man came into the light, he was older but strong, and tall.

"Bill, it's good to see you again" My eyes shifted to Bella who turned to face the man and although her voice sounded friendly and welcoming, I could see her hands tightened around the three knives she held.

"And you have brought an edge walker with you-" the man heaved, he was angry.

Why was he angry?

His hand moved to a black handle protruding from his back,

"After clear orders not seek help from these beings" he slowly drew the handle and what looked like a spear appeared from the shadow of his broad back. Bella's fingers were still tight around the knives. There were no movements in the room except for theirs, calculated and ready. I felt uneasy, something inside me screamed. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.


	6. Skin and Bones

Year Unknown - The Underworld (Third Gate)

I couldn't tell you exactly what happened next, everything happened so quickly,

Bella's hand gripping the blades.

Bill launching forward.

Blood.

Bella hit him hard in the chest, again and again but he met her blow for blow.

I could feel my heart beating in my throat.

The only sound I heard was the ringing in my ears. There had to be something I could do.

Jump.

He grabbed her fist before she could punch again and kicked her hard in the stomach. Though he was older, his kick sent her flying backwards. But she was agile and smart, she landed on her feet, her moves were quick and measured.

Dodge.

His spear moved rapidly through the darkness, he handled it as if it was part of him.

Blood.

My heart kept trying to beat out of my chest, my mind tried to decipher his next move.

Where would it land next?

"Bella to your left" I shouted and watched her dodge his strike.

I looked around for any weapon I could find but it was too dark to see properly,

Bella dodged another attack swiftly, her body jumping in the air and landing a few feet away. She was quick, quicker than anything I'd ever seen before.

Was she using her rune?

She threw one of the knives she had caught earlier and cut a flesh wound on Bills chest; suddenly the wound on my cheek began to heat up as if it were poison on my face.

They fought fiercely, like something out of the matrix. His spear connected with the two knifes above her head. It was only a matter of time before his strength proved he was a more powerful opponent and yet she was relentless, her knifes pushing the spear away with all her might. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? They were all just standing in the shadows, watching. I looked around frantically to try and catch anyone's eye, when I finally caught the eyes of someone in the corner, I hadn't realized sooner but a pair of eyes had been watching me intently; our gaze held for seconds before a loud crash brought us back to the current fight in front of us.

Bill had kicked Bella towards one of the tables displayed in the center; it smashed into pieces under her making her cry out in pain.

I had to do something before he killed her. My instinct shifted my legs to move forward but Emmett held my shoulders back before I could get far. I turned my face towards him,

"Let me go" I said through gritted teeth, "Dammit Emmett, we have to help her."

He furrowed his brows and nodded "But we're human Edward! We'll only end up spending the rest of our lives down here"

Fucking Emmett. He was right.

"Did you forget? Without her, we WILL spend the rest of our lives here" I reasoned, "she's the only one that can get us back home"

I looked down at my hands, trying to come up with a plan, they were shaking uncontrollably. I balled my fists to try to stop the shaking but it only seized for a second before they began to shake again.

Bella's sweat glistened in the dark, her chest heaved with every single breath. I could tell she was tiring but Bill was relentless.

I couldn't just stand here and watch this happen. I wouldn't. I looked around for anyway I could help her, mustering all the courage I could, my eyes darting all around the room.

I thought about what she said, how shifting takes a toll on Nurim's. How she was still learning to control her rune. Then I saw it, Bella's holster had come off near the center of the room. The ivory handle of her knife revealing itself to me. Calculating the risk, I had to sneak through the darkness without being noticed, take the knife and somehow manage to stop him before he hurt her further.

"You've put us all at risk" Bill said while he walked over to her, "You could've had us all killed"

It's now or never.

"Em, watch out, skully's getting away!" I said turning my face towards the door and mustering my best look of pure shock. Emmett gasped and quickly motioned towards his book bag, the poor fool's eyes widened as he turned abruptly. I took the chance and ran through the darkness towards the knife. Dodging the chairs and jumping over tables; Ironically I was thankful for the many times I had to run away from the cops, it gave me the agility I needed right now.

He shifted his spear above his head, twisting and pointing its edge towards Bella. She closed her eyes, maybe I was hallucinating from the blood rain but I thought I saw a faint smile grace her lips.

Hell no. She will not be dying. Again.

I ducked and glided on the floor, reaching the holster and pulling the hook knife out. It felt much heavier in my hands than it looked. How did she manage to handle this so swiftly?

I stood and ran towards Bill, holding the knife with both hands to keep the balance of its weight.

Bill shifted his arms redyeing his attack,

I yelled a battle cry at the top of my lungs as I jumped from a table and soared towards him,

Bill's turned around sharply, his eyes widened in shock. Bella's mouth opened with astonishment, the sight of a mere human levitating in the air with her knife must've been a sight to behold. I clenched my jaw and prepared for the fall.

Bills eyes suddenly changed from shock to almost maniacal, a grin widened his lips and I knew immediately this hadn't been a good idea.

Bill swung his spear quick enough to smack me in the stomach before even reaching him. I instantly felt my lungs contract as my back hit a hard surface; I winced in pain and started coughing incessantly into my hand, I looked down them coated with blood . Bill was instantly above me, pulling me up by the scruff of my collar. I heard the slight rasp of material ripping.

"Big mistake, boy" he huffed and raised his spear.

"Only mistake was your mom not swallowing you " I said as I revealed the knife from behind me and wrapped it around his neck.

"Father, that's enough!" a new voice spoke from the shadows, I followed it's resonance and saw it belonged to a man who looked like a younger version of Bill.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, we don't need anyone else going to the Pit"

Bill hesitated,

Bill hesitated, "I'm not the one holding the knife to my throat" he said through gritted teeth.

"Father, lower your weapon" the voice warned again,

"Toss your spear Bill" Bella said. I gulped, uncertain of the outcome, if he moved his spear any closer I'd no longer have an eye but then he wouldn't have a jugular so we were in a bit of a Catch22, and I was winning.

The silence was deafening. Our eyes not blinking, watching each other carefully.

A grin crept up the corners of my lips, blood dripped from the edge as I saw the resignation in Bills eyes.

A rough growl left his throat as he tossed the spear to the side and immediately his shoulders caved in, dropping me to the floor, I began to cough up the remaining blood still in my mouth. Bill stood in silence, contemplating his next move, the younger Bill walked towards us and Bill picked up his spear making his way towards the door.

He was walking away. Holy shit, I won.

I realized the color of the blood I coughed was black and felt the sudden strength I previously relied on slowly leaving me.

Bill stalked towards the door and I felt a breath of relief leave my lungs.

The young man sighed deeply, almost as if he felt the same relief. He walked towards Bella and helped her to her feet,

"Who's in the Pit Paul?" she asked,

Paul looked down, deciphering a way to break the news to her. He looked much younger then, almost child-like; maybe in his teens.

"I couldn't-" he stuttered, when he looked back up I realized he had tears in his eyes. Bella placed both her hands on his shoulder.

"WHO?" she asked again, her voice breaking as she shook him.

Figures began to pour out of the shadows, one of them lit a lantern and a bright light flowed through the room. The one holding the lantern was a short pale girl. Her pixie cut hair pointing in all directions. The light of the lantern bared her pale complexion in an almost marble like way. Bella shifted her face towards the girl when the light came on. The small girl immediately ran towards her, embracing Bella in her arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay Bella, I was so worried" she buried her face in Bella's shoulder and closed her eyes lovingly. Bella wrap her arms around her and almost disintegrated with exhaustion.

"Alice, I'm glad to see you're alright too" she tore herself apart from the girl but still held in her in arms length,

"It's Leah, she went after Jacob" the girl said, her face contorted in anguish. Bella's arms fell to her side, in shock.

"So that's why...Bill-" she whispered looking distraught,

Bella walked towards me and sighed as she reached her hand out towards me,

"That was a stupid thing to do Edward" she smiled as she said this. I extended my hand and grasped hers, feeling light as she lifted me to my feet.

"Stupid things are what I'm good at" I chuckled and watched her eyes roll,

Bella picked up her hostler and her knife from the floor then turned and glared at me,

"Never, touch my sword again"

I gulped at the venom in her voice, "Noted"

Her back turned and she walked back towards crowd who were watching our engagement with curiosity.

"Brief me" she said as she approached them. I looked around for Emmett, I noticed his curly haired poke out from behind a table.

"She tried to rescue him on her own, taking off in the night" the answer came from a tall blonde man who emerged behind Alice. He was lean, with bruise-like shadows under his eyes that displayed his lack of sleep, "Stupid girl" he shook his head like a disappointed parent.

"At least she did- something! Which is more than you can say for yourself, coward" Paul growled between gritted teeth, his brows met each other in the center. The blonde man moved towards him but Alice quickly blocked his path. She stared at him intently and without saying a word he moved back, snarling in response.

"I'm no coward you impulsive child- Nor am I an idiot to go looking for a fight I can't win!" the man spat back,

"Jasper tone it the fuck down! His sister is in the Pit. I think the time for arguing about whether or not that was a good idea has passed" said a man of Asian descent, the light of the lantern reflecting on his thick glasses. He pushed through Jasper and Alice, to where Bella stood and pulled her towards him, embracing her in a hug. I shifted forward then,

"Bella" He hugged her tight, "Thank Akvan you are whole, what of Charlie?"

Bella had a face of distaste under his too-tight hug, her hands flat at her side, fists balled. I moved towards them,

"He is fine, Eric- but you are holding me a bit too tight-" everyone murmured audible relief when they heard Charlie was fine.

She looked my way and noticed the way my legs took long strides to reach them; her hands rose to Eric's chest and pushed him away,

"I'm glad, who knows where we would find another willing human Gate Keeper" he held her face in his hand as he said this "You look exhausted, how's your rune?"

Something inside me burned, maybe it was her blood still in my system or maybe it was the way he held her face in such a familial manner that made my insides feel hot like a furnace.

Who was this fellow?

What kind of relationship do they have?

My legs furiously moved on their own accord, I felt the fumes rising into my head and steaming out through my ears. The crowd parted as I ambled forward stopping right beside them, my eyes staring daggers into Eric. He hadn't turned to look at me but everyone else was watching with curiosity,

"I'm Edward" I blurted, louder than I had meant too. Bella smirked at me. I stretched my hand right in the middle of both him and her, making him turn abruptly towards me. I had to admit, I was just as confused at my sudden reaction, but something inside me didn't like the guy maybe it was the way he stared at me with a raised brow like he trying to decipher something I didn't know or the way he held her face.

No, I didn't like him one bit.

"Who is this outsider?" he asked, the color of his eyes began to turn a crimson red,

What the fuck? Did his eyes really just change color?

I looked towards Bella with panicky eyes,

Eric rebuffed my hand. I pulled my stretched hand back with my other one and stepped closer to Bella.

Red eyed Asshole.

"Edward this is Eric" Bella cleared her throat, "Eric this is-"

"The stupid fool who just dug his own grave? Forgive me but you reek" Eric's face twisted in disgust,

Did I? I recalled showering this morning. Maybe my trip to Hell made me sweat a bit more.

"They both smell awful, who is this beast?" A statuesque blonde stood behind Emmett, he hadn't noticed she was there because as soon as she spoke he jumped in surprise. Skully began to bark at her, "And this filthy creature? " she moved back repulsed, covering her nose with her hand.

"Everyone, this is Edward and the big guy over there is Emmett. They're from Limbo and they've come to lend us a hand" Bella said,

"From Limbo?" Alice questioned,

"How exactly are two edge-walkers supposed to help us? They can't even channel a rune, let alone shift" Jasper replied.

They were right, if only they knew we weren't even from their world. I wondered then what their reaction would've been if they knew we were human, it would've probably been worse, just like Bella had said.

I gulped at the thought.

"Akvan- I didn't think edge-walkers smelled so strange" Paul, covered his nose as well and moved a few steps further. I tried to smell my underarms inconspicuously but was sure they didn't smell as bad as they said.

"I have weighed his spirit and it is heavy, he's a courageous one" Bella placed her hand on my shoulder and I felt a million small electric shocks move around on the spot her hand touched. Her eyes darted towards mine, the corners of her lips turning softly. I smiled back, sure of how foolish I looked but I didn't care.

Eric hadn't missed the exchange, I sensed trouble there. There seemed to be some jealousy oozing off of him.

"No matter, edge-walkers? Part of the Third Gate? Such is unheard of" Eric said while eyeing me from head to toe, his eyes were still a strange red. I eyeballed him back, this surprised him. He wasn't much, this Eric fellow; I gather I could take him on. If it wasn't because I was exhausted, I'd kick his ass.

"There are things you don't know Eric- what about Tessa! She was an edge-walker and mated with Roellin" Alice said, quickly winking at me before turning back to Eric. I felt better then, two of them were on my side, the smallest ones… but that was better than none.

"I believe Edward worthy, did you not just see what happened? He confronted Billy..an edge-walker" Bella said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Was she just saying these things to make them believe I was an edge-walker or did she really mean it? There was some part of me that wanted to believe everything she was saying was true.

"The plains are no place for an edge-walker. They will only slow us down!" Eric began,

"I am second in command Eric, do not forget your place" Bella shifted in front of me, her eyes turning the same fiery red. "I do not wish to disturb your Gate, or slow you down." I was very slow and careful with my words, "but Bella did just say she was second in command- so I don't really give a damn what you think"

"Oh. Is that so edge-walker?" Eric drew close enough that we were face to face. I could see clearly now that not only were his eyes red but there were purple veins protruding from under his eyes. I didn't budge, but kept my cool and stared at him right in the eyes.

Bella rubbed the bridge on her nose and sighed, "I can say, Edwards strength does not rely on his words"

I heard Alice snicker softly under her breath; this led to Jasper furrowing his eyebrows at her.

"Your compliments are certainly backhanded, as always" His eyes watched me up and down before he continued, "I'm not impressed."

Bella folded her arms and nodded to herself, "It's time for your pissing contest to cave, we have more important issues to attend too...like how we're going to rescue Leah from the Pit" Eric looked taken aback. Paul reappraised me with a critical eye; he was also sizing me up, probably wondering if any of the things Bella said were true. Little did he know I was wondering the same?

The mood of the crowd changed when Bella mentioned Leah, Paul's eyes lit up like two stars and broke through Eric and I. I managed to catch myself from falling when shoved passed us towards Bella,

"I knew you'd say that! I must tell father right away!" he jumped in excitement,

"How about you let me break the news to him?" she placed her hand on his shoulder with kindness and reassurance. He smiled a wide toothy grin, too big for his face,

"Thank Akvan you're home Bella, my heart sings to see you again" he answered.

"Meanwhile- Alice why don't you show these men to a tent, I believe they'll need a wash and some new clothes"

Alice nodded and wrapped her arm through mine, my eyes opened in surprise. I turned my head towards Bella and she smiled with encouragement. A low growl escaped Jasper's throat,

"Pay no attention to him-" Alice said while pulling me away. The crowd stayed silent as Alice led the way outside the Hall for Emmett and I. Emmett, who I had forgotten about, was cornered by the statuesque blonde, he looked terrified. He managed to move passed her and ran towards us, skullys ears poking out from the book bag strapped to his back.

"That girl is fucking crazy" he said in between jagged breaths when he reached me, "and her name is Rose, just like my crazy ex!"

I turned one last time before walking out of the Hall and saw the familiar pair of red eyes glaring our way; maybe I hadn't made such a good first impression.


	7. Another One Bites the Dust

2008 - Kauaii, Hawaii

He's in the navy pier, James, and it's empty because people are running for cover from the sudden rain. Usually the place would be packed with tourist, surfers and girls, but all the company he has are the seagulls that are fighting over a piece of malasada. He's standing in the rain, propped against the wooden railing and staring out into the horizon. I run towards him and I'm glad I'm wearing my hoodie and I can cover myself from the rain but he's not, he's in shorts and a T-shirt and I'm concerned because the weather channel said 90% rain, James is always prepared.

"I knew I'd find you here"

I reach out a pat his back, James flinches as if awakened from a nightmare.

"You alright buddy? It's gonna start pouring soon" he doesn't answer, but his eyes are wide and there's fear in them, real fear. I've never seen my brother scared; he's always been the brave one. Always jumping into the shark infected water, literally and figuratively.

I touch his shoulder again and he's shaking, now I'm really concerned,

"hey hey! What's going on James? Talk to me!" I hold his shoulders to stop him from shaking but it's useless. There's water dripping down his eyes that at first I confused with rain drops but now I know they're tears. He opens his mouth but the words don't come out and he breaks down, he's sobbing now. I don't know what to do but I'm nervous and something feels wrong. I look around but there's nothing but the rain, even the seagulls are gone. I hold him and shake along with him but not because of the cold or the rain but because I'm frightened.

"I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die-" he says, finally, but it's not what I expected to hear and yet he repeats it over and over in between sobs. He looks up at me, blue eyes, the only innocent feature in his face, red from the tears. I'm afraid. His face is a mess,

"Ed...please, help me"

Year Unknown - The Underworld (Third Gate)

We followed Alice into a large tipi. A small but powerful light illuminated the room in the center. Somehow it released heat as if it were a fire pit, it rolled over my body when I entered, warming me up to the core and although it was a warm night the constant wind had numbed my skin. I was glad for the warmth the light because I was finally able to see our surroundings. At first I was skeptical because the topi looked rather small from outside but it was bigger than i expected and much nicer. The floor was covered by a large rug made out of animal skin and around the fireplace like lamp there were two small beds covered with thick blankets and feathered pillows.

Emmett immediately dropped his bag on one of the beds and sprawled himself on it, his feet hanging off the edge.

"This is good" he moaned with satisfaction "This is very good"

Skully followed his owner's actions and went to lay besides him.

I chuckled at the dog's almost human way of mimicking Emmett but Alice didn't seem so keen on the idea of a dog. Her face contorted in disgust,

"Not a fan?" I asked,

"Allergic" she said, covering her nose and mouth. The fact that a nurim could be allergic to a dog, weakened by a lesser creature, was very amusing. "You can stay here for the time being" she continued and walked over to the corner of the room where a large basin of water sat, "And you can clean off the blood with this water. There's also a small spring at the edge of the village"

I nodded my head in agreement; I couldn't wait to wash off the blood. By now it had dried and it smelled awful.

"There are clothes in the wooden trunk, although, they may be a bit small" she said, turning her eyes towards Emmett slowly who was fast asleep,

"Its fine, we'll manage" I said, bringing my hand to the back of my neck and rubbing the sore spot, "Thank you for helping us…back there".

"Helping you?" she chuckled while crossing her arms across her chest, "I wasn't helping you- They might have swallowed that lie you both fed them but I've known my fair share of liars far too long not to know when someone is blatantly spewing bullshit"

My eyes shot up towards her,

The heat from the lamp began to feel suffocating rather than comforting.

I swallowed hard, "I don't know what you're-"

"Oh please, edgewalker. Spare me your fake ignorance, I know what you are" She said between her teeth.

I froze and stared at her, her blank expression unsettling. She knew...knew what? that i was human? that James was my brother? I was afraid to ask.

For a long torturous moment we stood there watching each other. I keep my face as hard as my strength lets me but my insides are cramping. She examined me for an awkward moment and began to walk towards the entrance. I caught my breath.

My heart was in my throat and she stopped right beside me,

"You better watch your back" she growled under her breath and walked out of the tipi.

Countless questions raced through my head; the longer I was here the less safe I felt. It was truly stupid of me to think I could be safe anywhere in the Underworld but blood rain didn't feel as threatening as a demons threat. Did she really know anything? Was she just trying to scare me. If she thought I'd run away after coming this far she had another thing coming.

Emmett's snoring snapped me out of my chaotic thoughts. I felt the blood return to my legs and I let out a loud sigh of relief as I stumbled over to the bed.

This had felt like the longest day of my life, I wanted to jump into the bed and wake up back in my apartment, though tiny and cluttered it was the only place I felt safe. Nothing made sense, how could any of this be real, was I really here or did I completely go mad. In a manner of cliché, I pinched myself and felt every bit of pain that came with a real pinch.

My head lowered into my hands and I gripped the hair that was now longer than I'd liked to have it, I could only imagine what I looked like.

"What a fucking day" I whispered to myself as I massaged my head. Everything was sore. I pulled up my sweater and frowned at the marks and bruises that covered my torso, I touched it lightly and winced.

Suddenly I caught a whiff of my odor and I realized I smelled like something out of a horror movie. I walked over to the wooden trunk and rummaged through the old clothes, managing to find pants and a dirty old shirt. I carried the clothes and the lamp with me out of the Tipi.

The night had become chillier and I felt it in my bones as I followed through the edge of the village, letting the light guide the way towards the spring. When I got close enough to see it I almost felt the welcoming warmth of the water from just seeing the fog that caressed the top. Something in the middle of my chest radiated warmth just from looking at it, I couldn't wait to take off these bloody clothes and jump in.

I placed the lamp on the ground and ran towards the water. The clothes practically disintegrated off my body as I shrugged them off. I threw my shoes to the side and began my immersion into the spring. The water was perfectly warm; I relaxed my body and let all my thoughts sink into it as I floated above them.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a pitch black sky and the feeling of tranquility began settle in my bones. A memory of Bella sat itself on my mind. The rooftop of Flytrap, her whispering a story about constellations and holding my face towards the sky. I closed my eyes and almost felt the warmth of her fingers on my skin,

"How's the water?"

A familiar voice called out. I jumped in a panic at the sudden realization that I wasn't alone. My feet lost balance and I sank down, my arms flailed and I'm swallowed water in the process. It went into my mouth and wind pipe . I swam up, choking up a scream and began to cough out water incessantly.

"Fuck. Shit. Motherfucker!" I coughed out incoherently and wiped the water out of my eyes. Bella was standing at the edge, her toes almost touching the water.

Her laughter roared,

Good Job Edward, something else to add to the 'Edward is a fucking coward' list.

"Are you alright?" she said in between her laughter and began to strip down to her underwear;

"Totally cool...you practically just gave me a heart attack" I laughed nervously "Another one and I can permanently stay here" sarcasm was my forté. She chuckled and regarded me with confusion, sarcasm wasn't he forte.

I could see pink scars on her legs, beautifully spread out like a milky way of pain that disappeared when she began to immerge into the water.

When she reached me, her hand found my shoulder and squeezed. I shivered.

She was so pale, in the darkness of the surroundings she was so easy to spot. Her pink lips opened and her breath clouded the air,

"I'm sorry I scared you, I seem to forget you aren't accustomed to being here"

I didn't want her to ever take her hand of my shoulder,

"I don't think I could ever get accustomed to being here if I'm being honest"

She fell silent and dropped her hand from my shoulder. Spoke too soon.

"I believe you. I'm still not used to it myself" her eyes casted down,

"Bella can I ask, how did you end up here?" Bella looked up at me but I could see she wasn't looking at me; she was looking through me, maybe she was remembering every detail of how she died.

She smiled gently "I think if I told you, Edward, I'd reveal everything that's ugly about myself"

"I could never think you're ugly, you're-" I took a deep breath and let the word spill out "Beautiful" Instantly I felt the weight of my words rush to my heart.

"I know I've said this before but I can't thank you enough for coming, for even believing in me, I don't know if I would've taken the risk myself..." She sighed "You're brave, Edward"

I laughed forcefully, "I'm not brave…" I thought about my recent encounter with Alice and how helpless I felt, how I couldn't move. "If you know the real me, you wouldn't be saying that"

Her eyes were fixed on me, I wanted her to look away, I didn't want her to see me for what I really was. She swam closer to me "You're right I don't know you" I could feel the heat of her body; it was stronger than the springs. She raised her hand and touched my cheek, "But I know you're not afraid, no one here would've stood up to Bill the way you did. Coming here, that's not something a coward would do"

Her face was inches from mine, I forgot where I was and my stomach tightened. My hand reached out and I touch her arm, up to her shoulder and it dipped to the back of her neck. Her free hand touched my chest and I wanted it lower.

I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to tell her again and again that I thought she wasbeautiful,

Just a little closer, I thought as she inched her face closer, her lips parted and seemed to invite me in. Her eyes were focused on my lips, her long eyelashes raised with her eyes and met mine.

"Edward" she whispered and my heart raced. I waited for her lips to meet mine, but instead what I felt was her hand leave my face and push me away.

"Edward, something is wrong…"

Lost in the moment, my eyes stayed closed, I knew if I opened them then that meant Bella's lips weren't on mine and that she hadn't wanted to kiss me back, instead I had stood there like an idiot with my lips pouted and my eyes closed waiting for a demon to want me back.

"Open your eyes; we have to get out of here quickly"

I opened my eyes and saw Bella was already swimming towards the shore. I knew then that we were in danger, all my survival instincts were suddenly activated I followed Bella to the shore and out of the water. The cold wind hit me like a tidal wave. My pruned fingers frantically searched for the clothes I had taken from the trunk in the darkness,

"What's happening?"

She was already dressed; her hair a wet disarray as she bent to tighten her boots and a thin double blade peaked from the edge of her boot.

"I can sense someone entered the gate, not a familial "I watched as she tightened the holster of her blade around her waist. Heavy. Hooked. Dangerous. I recalled holding it in my hands, although heavy it felt right. Strange. I'd never held something like that before but it felt so familiar in my hands.

"Ready? We don't have time to waste" I hadn't realized I had frozen and had been just watching her blade.

"I-I am" I said as I put on the black t-shirt over my head. The clothes were smaller than I expected, the cargos were sticking to me like a second skin, especially because I was wet. The lack of labels told me they were probably handmade.

"Get Emmett, go to the main hall. I will meet you there" she began to run towards the village and disappeared from sight.

I ran towards the tipi. Something was definitely off, everything was strangely quiet. I entered the tipi and rushed towards Emmett, shaking him awake when I reached him.

"Wake up!"

It took some force to shake him awake. He opened his eyes slowly and regarded me with a confused groggy look, "What's going on?" he asked, still half asleep.

I began to gather our things in haste. Suddenly I heard a whispering in my ear, like a strange buzzing of words I could not understand. Soft. Low. Dark

I turned around but there was no one in the room except Emmett and I. Skully began to bark suddenly at the entrance,

Emmetts eyes shot open,

"What the fuck is going on Ed?" he said as he sat up,

"I'm not sure but it's not good. We have to go to the Main Hall and meet Bella there"

He took in our surroundings with focused eyes, "Fuck. We're in Hell" I nodded in agreement and disappointment. The fuck we were.

Then suddenly a sharp piercing cry ricocheted from outside, we both turned towards the entrance. The sound was earsplitting. Bella.

I ran towards the entrance and saw a bright, ominous fire.

The Main Hall was burning. People were running out of their Tipis, I looked around and saw familiar faces and unfamiliar ones but none of them were Bella. I looked around distraught, I needed to find her.

Then the whispering began again, and I groaned in pain.

"malpirg ol ol ollogmalpirg ol ollogmalpirg ol ollog"

It repeated over and over again,

"Edward! Are you listening? What do we do now?" Emmett shouted above the screams of the people frantically running around us,

"Edward!" I turned abruptly and saw Paul running towards us, beads of sweat pooling on his brow,

"Paul" I met him halfway, he was nervous, looking around with uncertainty. "What's going on, where is Bella?" my chest heaved with anxiousness but he was silent. "Paul!" He was stalling and my anxiety was building.

"She's fine, we caught one of the nurims who did this" he spoke without catching his breath "You have to follow me, there's no time"

I looked back at Emmett; he was regarding me with a confused look in his eyes. He was always skeptical of strangers. I cocked my head at him and was about to question his gaze but Paul was already running away,

"Let's go!" he yelled back to us,

We followed Paul to the end of the Village and entered a large Tipi, much similar to mine except much bigger and stripped of any furniture. As soon as we walked inside we were greeted with angry faces. My eyes were immediately drawn to Bella, standing strong in the middle of the room, her arms were covered in blood as was the small knife she was holding. I let out a sigh of relief. She was okay.

Bella stood with her back to me, not bothering to turn around. A sting of disappointment crawled under the skin of my chest.

Below her laid a man, bloodied and beaten, he was tied to a wooden center pole that held the tipi up.

"Who invited the edge-walkers" I followed the voice; Eric sat in the corner on top of a wooden trunk . My eyes met his, he acted indifferent. Blank. but I understood there were more important matters at hand than fighting right now.

"What's going on" I asked and was met with silence and disdain from the group. Everyone from the previous encounter at the Main Hall was there. Paul was the one who answered. His face contorted with disgust ."An attack on the Gate"

"Is everyone else safe?" The blonde woman who I recalled was Rose asked,

"A few casualties but we caught the pieces of shit that burned the Hall, bad news is they ended up taking their own lives before we could" Jasper answered with furrowed brows, he too was covered in blood.

In the back of the Tipi Alice had her eyes forced shut, her hands were raised to her temples and she was emanating a kind of energy from her fingers onto her head.

"What is she doing?" I asked. Curious.

"She's harnessing his rune and looking through his memories" Paul nodded towards the man on the floor,

I breathed in sharply, trying to hide my acute panic attack, "Wait. She can see anyone's memories?" I felt my hands begin to sweat. Had she seen mine, is that how she knew I was lying?

"Yes, it's much easier for her when the other person is weak but channeling another's rune is...a bitch"

I nodded, fighting to keep calm.

Jasper kicked the man hard in the stomach and the man winced in pain, spitting blood on the floor. Bella then crouched down next to him and cradled his neck with her knife, "We're only going to ask you one more time, Where. Is. James?"

The man didn't budge. He was lifeless. Bloodied hair covered most of his downcast face. My attention focused on the gashing all over his body, red running out of them, down his arms and curving on his wrists. He kept his eyes on the floor.

Bella looked towards Alice, "A, Anything yet?"

Alice opened her eyes and shook her head, "He's a dweller, his memories have been wiped clean" Bella snarled in exasperation.

Then again, the whispering began to build. I smacked my ears with the palms of my hand, maybe something crawled in there. What was this feeling of dread and darkness.

"malpirg ol ol ollogmalpirg ol ollogmalpirg ol ollog"

It got louder and louder. Everything began to spin.

"Edward?"

Was that Emmett's voice just then, distant but concerned, I wondered but everything was fusing into one and I couldn't tell whether someone was talking to me above the repeated chants.

I turned around, searching like a mad man for the ominous voice that chanted in my head. I stifled a scream.

The my eyes met with the man on the floor and all the hairs on my skin rose as if a magnetic field has been placed around me.

Did he know me? I tried think of anytime I had met this man before, maybe back home, but I couldn't recall.

Suddenly, as if he had read my thoughts, he chuckled and my stomach dropped. His eyeball turned the color ebony, a dark endless socket of darkness. The man smiled darkly, the blood dripping down his head and into his open mouth. His fangs now covered in blood poked out like two blades, sharp and deadly. The words in my head became louder. Every syllable felt like my heart was shrinking. Like a bomb was exploding inside of me. It was him.

He was doing this, He was saying this in my head. How. Why. I couldn't look away.

I fell to my knees,my stomach dropped and my body began to shake uncontrollably. I could see flashes of movement in the background but I could not look away from his dark gaze nor could I hear anything except the continuous phrase in my head.

"malpirg ol ol ollogmalpirg ol ollogmalpirg ol ollog"

I yelled in pain, my whole body was on fire. I could feel my body shutting down.

Someone, help me.

I'm coughing and heaving and all I can let out is a piercing cry as the crushing pain became more and more uncontrollable.

Then suddenly when I thought it was the end, it stopped and I coughed, heaved, for air, letting the oxygen back into my lugs as I but it was too late, my vision became blurry. I didn't feel when my body hit the floor or my head smack the ground but in the blur of my surroundings, my eyes focused on another lifeless body across from me, his eyes were no longer ebony but the color of the sea, the color of James eyes, stained with blood. His throat had been cut and I could almost feel the blood that pooled around him reaching me. He was dead and so was I. Then it all went black.


	8. Limbo City

Year Unknown - The Plains/Limbo City

I was floating, my body gliding along clouds.

Death was gentle; it caressed my hair like my mother did when I was a boy. My mother, she was near, I could smell the lavender scent of her hair, the earthy scent of her hands. Death-

It whispered

"Heaven" and followed by gently humming a lullaby, it was like angels singing.

I felt small sparks rising from my toes up to my hands; they came in waves of happiness that surrounded me as if I was wrapped in warmth. I was a baby, swaddled in a golden light.

"Goodnight buddy" my father whispered and kissed my head.

In the background I could hear the gentle playing of strings from a harp. It was serene, almost peaceful but something was missing.

My father turned the nightlight off.

Something didn't feel right.

"Ed! I don't want to die" James voice cried out.

I shifted and it was hot, desert hot. I squirmed around with discomfort; my clothes were sticking to me. It was dark now; any golden light I had imagined was gone.

My head bounced up and smacked down on a hard surface.

Ouch.

I winced in pain from the sudden blow.

"He's moving!"

Who's moving?

Something smelled…awful, like manure. Perhaps this wasn't heaven, why was everything suddenly so dark. My body jumped up and back down hard causing me to hit my head again. Okay, I was definitely not floating. I was moving, and I heard the creaking sound of….wheels?

"Wake up" a gentle voice called, maybe an angel. I smiled again; maybe this was just a bad neighborhood in heaven. I reached my hand out and although it was dark my hand touched something familiar. Round. Soft.

"Oh no" a male voice followed,

My eyes shot open, Rosalie was staring down at my hand in disbelief, the sun was almost blinding but I knew what I had done. My hand. Her breast. She lifted her head with a poisonous glare in her eyes, and before I could block it her fist collided with my nose.

I cried out in pain.

"Fucking pervert!" Rosalie called out, "I'll rip your damn head off"

I could feel the blood coming down my nose and I tried to stop the running with my hands but the blood seeped through my fingers.

When my vision finally adjusted, I saw Jasper holding Rosalie back, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" I tried to sit up but my head felt like it weighed a million pounds. Skully began to bark and growl at Rosalie, she hissed at it in response. I guess demons don't like dogs.

"Calm down Rose, it was mistake" the calm voice before was Bella's, I hadn't realized she was kneeling down besides me; "Put pressure on it" she said ripping a piece of her shirt and raising it to my nose. I held it in place as commanded and tried to get up again but her hand pushed me back down and held me there,

"Down. You may have a concussion. Let's not hesitate shall we."

I could hear Rosalie cursing at me under her breath as she shook Jasper's hands away, something along the lines of disgust and dirty.

Bella held my chin with the tip of her fingers and inspected my face, side to side, "It's not broken." she licked her lips and ginned, "You're a hard man to kill Edward Masen"

I tasted the metallic flavor of blood when I grinned back,

"It's all those days at the gym"

I looked around; we were in what seemed like a wagon. A large body abruptly sat me up and brought me into a hug, "Man I thought you were a goner! You have no idea how happy I am you're okay" I winced and Emmett pulled back and held me at arm's length, he looked dirty but alive. Was he wearing the same clothes?

I smiled widely, I'd never been happier to see my best friend "I'm alright, just a slight headache, I'm sure it'll pass. Glad you're alive." I hugged him tight and felt every bone in my body constrict. It was almost as bad as the time I got jumped by three guys behind Kirk's.

Bella gritted her teeth and sighed, "I just said he may have a concussion you infernal beast, let him go" her hand caressed the handle of her sword and Emmett immediately whispered an apology and pushed me away. Incredible how such a big guy could be so easily frightened, but then again, that sword was bone chilling.

I chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder, I was glad to be alive just not alive in the current circumstances. I looked around and only saw half of the people who were previously in the Tipi. Where was everyone else? My head pounded with questions and each question was a headache.

I put down the piece of clothing I was holding to my bloody nose and looked around;

"So you gonna tell me what the fuck happened?"

"Glad to know you still have that foul mouth" Bella scoffed and pushed herself against the soft linen that covered the wagon, she sighed with exhaustion,

"That dweller, the man we captured, he was using dark magic on you, the spell is easy to cast on anyone whose rune is weak or can't channel rune at all"

There were dark circles under her eyes, and her clothes were dirty and tattered. The thought of her only asset (me) to saving her people ending up dead would've definitely put a damper on things. I wondered what she was thinking, was she worried that I may have died? Because I was worried I may not see her again and was I going to Heaven? Me? I always figured I'd be a Hell kind of guy, maybe I should mention I'm not as much a piece of shit as I thought, god may have seen through that.

But instead I kept quiet and listened. Upsetting a demon would not be the smartest way to try to stay alive. I was weak, among all these powerful superhuman beings, and I was bound to be the one getting saved in occasions I had no control of, I needed to be on their good side, but I also needed to earn their trust, and almost-dying every other minute just made me look like fucking baggage. Great way to make an impression 101.

"She saved you edge-walker. If it wasn't for Bella cutting that dwellers throat you would've been back in the shit-hole you came from" Jasper interrupted, reproachful.

"Waste of rune, if you ask me" Alice mumbled, loud enough for me to head. I hadn't noticed her in the corner of the wagon, she was cross legged with a book in her hands and didn't bother to look up when she spoke.

"I-I didn't mean" I stammered and froze, "Thank you for saving me"

Bella raised an eyebrow "Don't mention it kid"

I cringed. Kid.

Otherwise- Child. Young. Immature. Callow.

Fuck me.

She turned back to a map that she had spread out before her and began inspecting it. The inside of the wagon was lit by the harsh sun that peaked from the opening of the wagon. The wagon itself was covered by a thick tarp; it blocked some sunlight but made everything inside smell like sweat and musk. I dragged myself backwards against the tarp, we were clearly on our way somewhere.

Horses neighed outside and before I could ask a head poked from the opening in front of the wagon, the head was covered with a shemagh and when they pulled the mouthpiece down and spoke I realized it was Paul,

"We're close, about a mile left" he said and I got a glimpse of the front. We were riding through what Bella described to me before as the plains, the land outside the Gates.

"Thank you Paul," Bella replied.

Paul quickly looked over my way and gave me a nod, then pulled the cloth over his mouth and returned to the front. I liked Paul, he was a kid (like me, apparently) but he was smart (I was smart), he was also the only person other than Bella who regarded me with more than dismay.

Jasper was now hovering over Bella and analyzing the map; they were speaking softly between each other. I didn't like the way he would accidentally touch her hand and leave it there until she pulled away or the way his attention focused on her lips whenever she spoke. He puffed his chest when he stretched and flexed his arms and he was a kid too, he was just better at hiding it.

I crawled towards them, "You haven't told me where we are going" I said and statistically placed my hand on top of the map, blocking the exact spot that was marked by an X. They both looked up at me but one look held contempt and another's surprise. "I don't recall the moment we agreed this edge-walker needed to know everything we did?" Jasper growled between gritted teeth, Bella placed a hand on his chest and it seized to heave, my eyes darted to her hand,

"Hey! This edge-walker is helping your sorry ass" I spat,

"I think you're talking to the wrong guy, motherfucker" he stood,"Get up, I'm gonna show you who's going to be sorry"

My heart was beating fast, I could feel the adrenaline pumping in my blood and I was getting tired of being pushed around by these demons, they thought they were better than me, but I was human, I still had a life and a chance, they didn't.

Bella stood between us, she was facing me now, her eyes burying into me. Behind her Alice and Rosalie were now also standing. Would they also jump in, if something happened. I wondered. How could I stop one demon, let alone three.

"Don't be stupid Edward, you've come too far to waste it on some fight you know you can't win"

I knew she was right but I wasn't going to cower, I clenched my fist and glared back at Jasper, with the same intensity. She knew I would never back down, I couldn't, it just wasn't in my code. Too many times did I cower and have my brother be the hero, I was always being saved. Always taking the punches. Always. Always. Always.

"Jasper" her voice was now louder but she didn't move her sight from me, "STAND DOWN"

"And allow to be talked down too? I don't think so Bells"

"Jasper, come on, it's not worth it" Alice called, she stepped forward but Jasper's hand immediately flew up, his palms outstretched towards her. She stopped mid-step. Her face full of worry as she moved back,

The horses neighed loudly and the wagon halted abruptly causing me to lose my balance and launch forward. Suddenly I was atop of Bella, my hands on each side, my leg between her legs, our faces almost touching, I could feel her heart beating. Her face was now a crimson red, her breath tickled my neck, she smelled like the earth and rain; like my mother.

"We're here" Rosalie said, her voice sounded relieved.

The mood changed completely.

I pulled myself off of Bella, but our eyes didn't leave each other. Emmett cleared his throat loudly. She blinked rapidly and stood effortlessly.

Instantaneously, the entrance of the tarp flew open, the sudden brightness was blinding. Eric appeared in the entrance, his head also covered with a shemagh with the exception of his face.

"Let's go you lazy fucks!" Eric called with excitement, but wasn't met with the same emotion. He looked around, "What happened?"

Bella breathed in deeply before walking to the edge and jumping out of the wagon, "Nothing" she said, but still nobody moved.

She turned when she noticed no one was getting off and her eyebrows furrowed, "Let's go people! We have no time to waste" Everyone moved quickly then as if her words were magic, jumping out and disappearing after Bella. Jasper was the last one, he looked down at me,

"This isn't over" he said and didn't wait for a response before jumping off.

When he was out of sight, I leaned back into my elbows and looked up at the dirty tarp.

"Not even close" I whispered.

"Limbo City"

I stood at the Gate of a massive city. Beaten down sky scrapers towered indefinitely above dark clouds. The sky was a familiar tar-black, and the clouds were gathered like a whirlpool over the city. Claps of thunder pierced through the eardrums and lightening like Poseidon's sword forked through the clouds, crashing down on the metallic sheets that layered low from the smaller buildings.

Bars. Street bars. They spread like scaly evil fungus all over the streets,

The streets, (actual concrete! I almost cried with joy) were filled with people, it reminded me of the pier back home but much dirtier. I was handed a cape that had a hood which I was then instructed to put on. Everyone did. We walked through the city, unseen, in groups of two; careful not to draw any attention to ourselves. Our feet stepping hard in puddle after puddle as we made our way through the crowd.

Limbo City was what I would describe a Dystopia, 'The pissing hole of Hell' as Bella described it.

Hookers. Drug addicts. Thief's..the lowest of the low, resided here and they were mostly edge-walkers, humans who wondered the middle ground of heaven's shit and hell's piss they called limbo, hopelessly lost. Most of them awaiting damnation. The people looked like radioactive waste. Carriages moved up and down the streets, puled by edge walkers. Sometimes they were kids, carrying what were considered upper class edge-walkers; Overtakers.

They owned the city, the people, the drugs and most importantly they owned The Pits.

"A fighting hole in the ground where demons are taken after they've been captured, and forced to fight each other for wages." Paul whispered as we tried to keep up with the rest.

Why doesn't that surprise me, having to earn your freedom by fighting. Hell was a nasty place but it reminded me a lot of Earth.

It had begun to rain and I nervously asked if the rain was safe, "It's not blood rain. That's only in the plains, in the city you only worry about getting mugged or ending up dead in an alley"

"Or in the Pit" I replied, maybe a little blood rain wasn't so bad.

I tried not to make eye contact with anyone but every time I did, they would stare at me and their eyes would turn pit back and they'd sniff the air around me, as if I was the food being offered by the street vendors.

"-like Leah," he continued, his eyes were downcast and I saw his fists clench when he said her name. His sister, Leah.

I thought about my own brother and how in a sense, I was here to save him from himself, and how I would've done anything possible to save his life if given the chance.

We turned sharply into a dark empty alley and ended up at an enclosed dead end. Bella looked back at Alice and stepped aside, Alice moved forward and faced the wall, she placed her hand flat on it and chanted a word. An entrance appeared and I heard Emmett gasp quietly. We all hurried inside and the concrete wall went back to how it previously was.

The inside was an industrial tattered down loft. Somehow we had gone up floors, there were large windows that were pointless because the view was covered by the dark clouds. The large room itself was stripped of any common house items. except a couch, a large table and a TV. An empty beaten down kitchen sat in the corner. The place was dusty and old but it was better than a tipi.

Everyone dropped the bags they were carrying; water jugs, sleeping beds, bags filled with canned food and began to gather around the table where Bella had already laid out the Map. I took off the bag I had been handed before leaving the wagon, along with the cape and dropped it on the floor. Dust flew up and stuck to the wet cape.

They all spoke briefly about the location of the place Leah was being held captive, The Pit was handled by one of the top Overtakers, this was Intel Alice had gathered from her visions.

"How are we going to get her out of there? We don't have any money to wage" Rosalie argued, she was resting her arm on the table and hovering over the map,

"We don't, and without money we are just bait" Eric said in between coughs as he jumped on the couch; a light dust rose from it's surface, "Only way would be to make a wager..but what the fuck would we bet" he laughed sardonically,

"We can ambush them" Paul answered, he began to fake punch and kick Jasper, "Turn them into dust and take her out of there!"

Jasper put him in a headlock, "Don't be careless boy, if the Overtaker's even smell a coup we'd be surrounded in seconds, they wouldn't hesitate to put us in the Pit"

Paul struggled to get out of his hold and ended up falling to the floor with an -oomph- when Jasper loosed the grip.

"Well does anyone have any better ideas!?" he said, standing up and dusting off his black jeans. Everyone was quiet. I pondered over the red X marked on the map.

It was silent for a while.

I pushed myself off the wall I had been leaning on and stood straight, my legs slightly apart; I read somewhere you can exude confidence if you part your legs,

"Why don't we send someone to fight in the pit?" everyone immediately turned to face me, regarding me with curious eyes, the edge walker, the outcast.

"Eric said..we can make a wager-" I looked at him and breathed deeply; to exude confidence you must pause between sentences "So why don't one of us fight the biggest guy they have and win her freedom?"

It was silent again but then Paul began to laugh, "Yes!"

and he repeated it over and over, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

I looked at Emmett and he was also smiling. I could feel my hands, my neck, my armpits all sweating,

"and if we lose, we have nothing to offer" Alice asked,

I smiled, omniscient, "You have one thing"

My eyes scanned the room and out of all the faces, the only thing that mattered was the grin on Bella's lips.


	9. Ondine and Her Fighter

Year Unknown - The Pit

The Pit was a bacteria. It fed on blood and money. There were the ones who spent their last wages betting on a fight, the addicted, the gamblers and the ones who had the money to waste, the ones who brought their own captured nurims and trained them to fight in the arena.

It wasn't a hard place to find, if the lights illuminating the dark sky didn't lead you to it, the crowd around the entrance would. You could hear the cheers of the people and the officiators loud micro phoned voice from streets away.

"This is ridiculous" Jasper whispered between gritted teeth. It was ridiculous but not unheard of, people have been doing these kinds of things for centuries, from the Romans to the New World, people loved a bloody fight, especially if money was involved.

Ahead of us, I saw the shadows of three men, behind a pile of trash, they seemed to be wresting with someone . As we got closer we saw it was a boy around Paul's age, a frightened look in his face frantically looked around for help.

"Don't look" he said, "We can't help him"

But it was too late his blue eyes met mine, a pool of blue, tears seeping from all corners, begging for help without saying a word. I knew that look, that boy was a reflection of a younger me. I looked down and clenched my fists, Paul was right, there was no way we could help everyone. I began to feel sick; with myself, with this place.

"Focus" he said, his voice stern. I looked at him, still surprised at the man walking besides me, it was Jasper, except it wasn't.

8:00 hours before -

"I don't think you get it yet edge-walker" Jasper glared and edged closer to me, "We are at War with these people, complete Gates have been annihilated for less"

I gulped as he continued,"If a Nurim is found waging or even near a pit...our home..our lives..everything we've managed to do this far will be for naught" I lowered my eyes, feeling a surge of guilt drip down my throat. Instead I looked elsewhere and I noticed Alice's gaze had lowered as well, for a second I thought I saw a tear caress her cheek but it was gone as fast as a blink, fast enough for me to wonder whether I had seen anything at all.

Maybe it was best if I remained silent. I took off my glasses and rubbed the bridge of my nose. I realized it was a crazy idea to send anyone to fight in the pit, I've put their lives at risk by even coming here, specially by hiding the fact that I was a human...

I stopped and suddenly something inside me clicked, like a light switch being turned on or a gas stove clicking to a different level. I put my glasses back on and thought about the advantage having a soul could have.

I could wage my human soul, that had to be a possibility. A human in Hell would be an outrage in the Pit. I looked over at Bella but she was already discussing other options with the group, except Alice who had been looking at me, her brows meeting at the middle.

Oh no..could she hear what I was thinking? did she have some kind of power to do that? what if she said something before I could, there was no denying it now, she knew I was human, the way her eyes analyzed me.

"Jasper" she interrupted, I quickly stepped forward apprehensive "Wait" I replied, and all conversation seized.

Everyone was now looking from Alice to me.

Alice glared, "Quiet" she said and gestured a hand movement that rendered me mute.

"What is going on, Alice?" Bella's voice resounded, echoing around the empty loft. I touched my mouth and realized my lips were zipped shut, as if there weren't lips but just a tight zipper line. I tried to speak but no words came out.

I began to lose my composure, she was going to tell everyone I was a human and I had no way of giving my input about waging it to our benefit. I looked at Emmett, hyperventilating, eyes wide, but he was just as nervous as I was. His hands were in his mouth, touching his lips to make sure his was still intact.

"The edge walker has an interesting idea" she said as she paced around the room, her hand holding her chin, pensive "Jasper, you are a shape-shifter, you can shift as an Overtaker and present our fighter" Jasper stayed quiet but his eyes narrowed towards me with a raised brow, I raised mine in return. Completely taken back by Alice suggestion. Knowing she wasn't going to say i was human suddenly made it easier to breathe.

Did she say that to stop me from revealing I was human? I thought.

"And who exactly would this fighter be? You do know Nurims who are not burned aren't even able to cross the Pits boundaries, right" Eric said in a matter-of-fact tone , he was sitting on the couch, his arms resting on his legs, fingers linked together.

"Burned?" Emmett asked. I was glad one of us was able to speak.

"Nurim's who are captured to fight are branded in iron, if they don't have the brand they cannot enter" Paul answered, always eager to teach. Alice smiled, and it was a long minute before she replied,

"That's why we are sending the edge-walker to fight"

Her words managed to grab the same reaction from everyone,"WHAT?" they all replied in unison.

"HM?" I mumbled.

I wondered if she was sending me to my eminent death.

Sure, send me to fight another human or anything else that did not have wings and talons and could channel rune.

Jasper laughed out loud, "That is absurd, the man can't even stand still in a moving wagon" his laugh was obnoxious, the kind of laugh that was the opposite of contagious.

"That's true but we've seen him fight...he can handle himself" Alice replied,

"He is an edge-walker Alice!" Paul was visibly upset, "There is no way he can beat a drainer, they'll eat him alive"

Alive, I actually chuckled when he said the word.

My eyes narrowed towards Bella's hooked sword, it was resting against the wall behind her, and ominous glow seemed to be emanating from it. I tilted my head to the side and blinked rapidly. Was I imagining this? I looked around, but no one seemed to notice the glowing sword. I nudged Emmett, he looked at me and I nodded toward the sword. He looked towards it and the back at me, shoulder's raised,

"What?" he asked,

I nodded towards it and mumbled aggressively, but he did the same thing; looked at the sword then back at me, still confused.

"What are you nodding at? There's nothing there but that creepy sword" he murmured with exasperation.

I rolled my eyes and sighed in surrender.

"Well why don't you let the man speak for himself" Paul argued back, his hand angled towards me. I was so focused on the mythical glowing sword I had forgotten about the fact I could possibly be being sent into a pit where chances were all chances pointed towards my eminent death.

Alice sighed and made the same hand gesture she had done previously to hex me mute, my mouth literally unzipped and I almost cried of joy.

"It doesn't matter whether he speaks or not, he's not going" Bella said, her voice abrasive.

Jasper was a shape-shifter, he was able to take the form of any beast, edge-walker or nurim at will. The catch was he could not shift into anyone from his own gate or another nurim without drinking some of their blood beforehand, but an Overtaker...an Overtaker was 'a piece of cake' he said.

"You know, you're not really making the whole woman thing believable if you keep walking like that" I tried to fight the amusement in my voice. Jasper stumbled in his heels, he had taken the shift of a woman. It was easier to enter the Pit if he was a lady,was what everyone agreed.

"Kiss the darkest part of my ass" he replied, irritated as he picked his wedgie and murmured "Damn women, couldn't choose less intricate lingerie"

He didn't choose just any woman but Ondine, an Overtaker from the 'Upper East Side' of Limbo City, she was the CEO of Ondine Fish Co. an older, respected woman in the industry who also had a knack for the Pit Fights, although money was not an issue her fighters always lacked in the Pit. She was known to choose beauty over brawn, which was a spectacle when they lost. The people of Limbo City came to the Pit with the intention to watch a gruesome death and Ondine provided that.

I watched the sea of people part as we made our way to the entrance. Two incredibly large and brawny men covered the door, they looked identical, each a carbon copy of the other. I cringed, if James disguise didn't work, those men would probably eat us for dinner. I had to step back and crane my neck up to look at them, they were both almost 8 feet tall and full of terror, between their large bodies the door was almost invisible. They both wore dark leather jackets and dark glasses that were too small for their faces. I looked at Jasper, unsure of what the conversation was going to be, it wasn't like we had practiced this part, we just expected them to open the doors and let us in when they saw Ondie, instead they both crossed their arms across their chest.

Jasper cleared his throat, "I'm Ondine. I've come to submit my fighter" he narrowed his eyes towards me, and for the first time actually looked at me except with pity in his eyes. I could only imagine what i looked like, lanky under the heavy leather coat, in the midst of an awkward beginning of a beard,my hair was a dirty mess, the glass of my glasses was cracked from the first fall into Hell. I puffed my chest out and gave them my meanest stare. The men's eyes narrowed on my face and he regarded me with suspicion.

"We know who you are" One of them answered after the silent regard, his voice was deeper than any i heard before.

"You alone tonight?" the other questioned? raising a thick eyebrow.

I swallowed hard and felt the eyes of the crowd on us. My heart started banging on my chest and my chest started to lower.

Jasper now had one hand on his hips and another on the bridge of his nose "Do I look like I need a fucking babysitter? You see me come here every weekend" exasperation oozed off of him "Now the fights about to start and if i don't have my fighter in there before the second bell I'm going to stick one head into the others ass" I looked at him incredulously.

One of them cleared his throat and lowered his glasses slowly, tiny eyes peered from behind the lens, hooded by thick dark eyebrows. He looked me up and down again,

"This little man here your fighter..don't look like your type Ondine" he asked, not taking his eyes off of me. Jasper shifted from one foot to the other, hands still in his waist, he raised a questionable eyebrow. I swallowed hard again, trying to push the lump of fear down, I was having trouble holding it together. The man somehow understood Jasper's silent response, he raised the glasses back up with his index finger and unexpectedly laughed, a deep, frightening roar. The other joined in.

"Good luck little man, hope you make it past the first round" he said, still recovering from his fit of laughter. My shoulders sunk when he placed a heavy hand on it and pushed me towards the door as the other man opened it. A pool of red smoke protruded out of the place. I held my breath and swallowed down the nerves as we entered.

Bella's word was known to be final, no one argued with her before without suffering the consequences but this time was different. Somehow it had gotten darker outside, the rain covered the window making it impossible to see anything. I sat on the corner of the window, leaning against the cold glass. I was rolling the red marble between my fingers, feeling the cracked agate over my thumb.

Eric had fallen asleep on the couch and Emmett on a sleeping bag across from me, between their loud snoring and the thunder outside it was hard to get any rest. I craved the warmth of a real bed and covers but the concrete beneath me made it difficult to get any sleep at all. Alice and Rosalie had gone out to gather more information on the Pit. Jasper, whom I'd recently found out was a shape-shifter, was the only one free to roam around the City unnoticed, without worry of being caught. He knew someone in the City who could provide us illegal weapons but it was still a risk he took.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the drops of rain hitting the window, I wanted to be useful but the lack of knowledge and power rendered me helpless. All I could do was wait and I hated waiting idly.

Suddenly I felt the warmth of another body slide down the wall and slump besides me with a small -oomph-,

"Hungry?" Bella asked holding out an opened can of beans, my stomach growled in agreement and I took the can from her hands. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten in so long but the beans tasted amazing,

"Wow" I said, between mouthfuls of beans, "This isz amuhzen"

"It isn't a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich but..it's edible"

I swallowed the last bit and licked the spoon before placing it inside the empty can on the floor "I would probably give my left hand for a Philly right about now"

"You're quite eager to give your limbs away" she tilted her head towards me and grinned, two small yet sharp fangs poking out from behind her top lip. It was a forced smile, behind her eyes something told me she was really curious. I sighed,

"I-I just want to help, I want to fight" I said and shifted to angle towards her,

"Why.." her voice wavered then almost as if she were speaking to herself, her eyes now directed towards her tangled fingers, "Why would you risk yourself to save someone you don't know...Leah-" she paused and swallowed hard "We're all already dead"

"I don't know" I mouthed, my voice low and husky, "but I feel like it's something I need to do, for myself..for Paul. I'm here to help my brother because when he needed me the most, I didn't. I cowered and.." I felt the tears begin to pool down my face, "He's dead and it's because of me"

Bella looked up at me, her big brown eyes puzzled. The reflection of the lightning on the window lit up her face.

Dear god she was beautiful, I couldn't fight the thoughts going through my head any longer.

"I can't protect you if you're always-"

My lips were on hers before she could finish speaking. Ravenous. Passionate. Demanding. She pulled away and inhaled sharply,

"Edward-" she whispered slowly, pronouncing each letter as if to savor them. Her hand was against me, intending to push away but instead she left it there. Never had my named ever sounded so wonderful.

My breathing quickened as did hers and I angled my head slightly to the side and drew closer, slowly, my eyes focused on her soft lips, surprised to find them parting and her eyes closing. She inched closer, until her breath tickled my face, her smell flooding all my senses. Earth and rain and roses. She was intoxicating.

Our second kiss was a delicate butterfly of a kiss, it was slow and soft and comforting in ways that words could never be. I took her bottom lip between my teeth and sucked lightly on it's flesh. A low moan rolled of her tongue and I encircled her with my arms drawing her closer to me. Her arms reached up and tangled around my neck, pushing me closer to her. I wanted to be one with her, to melt and mold into her skin. My hands lowered to the small of her back, under her shirt and I reached up and pulled her body on top of mine. Her legs straddled me as I kissed deeper. Her hands found their way to my hair, sending chills down my spine as she pulled ever so lightly. My fingers roamed her back, her waist and up to her breasts. She broke the kiss and moaned when I thumbed her nipples, then her two hands grabbed mine, squeezing her breasts with me. She titled her head back in delirious pleasure as I licked and ran my lips up her neck towards her ear, where I nibbled with my tongue, biting the soft flesh of her earlobe.

I pulled away, "I have to fight" my heart was soaring dizzily. Her eyes low and unfocused, a swirl of emotions in her face, lust and desire disappeared and her brows met in the middle.

"Don't"

"I have too, we both know it's our best bet at getting her back" I replied and felt the warmth fade as she pulled away and distanced her self, her eyes searching mine for doubt, but I knew and she knew she wouldn't find it.

"I will give you my rune then, it is the only way you will have a chance at getting out alive"


	10. Dead and in Hell

Year Unknown – The Pit

'Edward are you listening?"

"Absolutely" I said, jumping from the sudden shock. My eyes focused back on Bella, who was on her knees in front of me, the small dagger I recognized from her boot back at the spring was now on her hand and she had it positioned atop her opposite wrist.

"This is important" she said, "Focus"

"Sorry" I tried to focus again. Bella meant to cut herself.

My eyes moved across the silver dagger down to her protruding veins.

"I've said this before but runes are easier to manage than they seem, the taste of blood wont linger, once your body grasps the essence of it the taste disappears" she caught her breath and continued, "Once you drink my blood you will instantly feel…different."

I stuttered, "You-You want me to drink..your blood?"

Her sighed and I could feel the exasperation in her next words "Do you want to die in the pit Edward?"

Dying was in the equation, it was a probability. I understood what was at stake with me going into the pit and as hard as it was to believe I would have to resign to the idea that I could possibly die one way or another, with or without Bella's blood which meant actually spending eternity here. Heaven was out of the picture.

Although it hadn't been more than a week in hell, I felt as though I'd been here for much longer and suddenly I wondered how it would've all panned out if I hadn't come here, if I hadn't met Bella and everyone else. I hadn't experience this much distress in the past years I'd lived in Reno, heck the only thing I knew how to do was flip buggers and get shitfaced so ultimately I would've ended up dead one way or another but who knew it would be so soon.

I recalled my brothers words and felt them leave my own lips.

"I don't want to die-" I mumbled before continuing a bit louder "How do I channel the rune once I've drank the blood?" I asked,

"The rune will channel itself depending on the host, you could end up just being able to heal. The biggest factor is rune casting is the one who is casting rather. That being said...it may or may not work, we won't know until it channels itself"

"You mean- this could all be for naught" I tried to remember it was me who offered to fight, "What if it doesn't work?"

"It will work Edward. You are a worthy, I believe in you but there is a limit to your rune and you as a beginner will need to know when it is the time to use it because if you use it at the wrong time and it runs out...you'll end up-"

"Here" I said, finishing her sentence.

There was warmth in my chest that could only be explained as the heat or Reno. Our eyes lingered in each others gaze. I lightly inched forward expecting to meet her lips but cringed as I tasted the liquid consistency of blood. I opened my eyes wide, surprised and looked down to see her bloody wrist in my mouth. I attempted to push her hand back but it only resulted in her other hand gripping the back of my head and holding me in place. I felt vile creep up to my throat as the blood went down my throat,

"Drink Edward, drink!" her eyebrows met at the middle as she tightened her grip on my neck. I tried to breathe in through my nose and swallow, the warm liquid traveled down my throat and collected in the pit of my stomach. I closed my eyes and felt my breathing slow, and suddenly all I could hear was a heartbeat, but it was too slow to be mine. No, it was Bella's heartbeat and it now was all I could hear. The delicious sound of her blood pumping was music to my ears and with the sweet sound of her heart the solid taste of iron had also turned sweet. I got lost between the sound and the taste of her pulsing blood that It wasn't until Bella pushed me off of her that I realized I was not holding on to her wrist, drinking her blood furiously. I leaned back against the wall, surprised and yet my eyes wide with excitement.

"I'm sorry- I couldn't stop myself" I covered my mouth in shame but I could not contain the laughter that followed.

"I think you may have drank too much" Bella said as she held on tight to her wounded wrist, instantly the blood stopped seeping through her hand and when she revealed her wrist it was healed, as if she'd never cut through it in the first place. I looked at her healed gash incredulously and began to laugh harder.

"Holy shit! I can feel your blood moving inside of me" I touched my face and felt the scratches and wounds were completely healed. I looked at my hands but they were unchanged and yet when I focused my eyes on them, I could see every little crack and hair on them, as if my eyes were made of magnifying glass.

It was almost a euphoric feeling. There was warmth in my hands I could not explain, as if all the blood had gathered in my fingertips.

"What can I do?" I asked,

"I don't know. It was different for all of us; the rune channeled itself when we turned into Nurims. For Eric it was possession and shape shifting, for Jasper it's strength. Alice can manipulate dark magic and Rose..well Rose is special" she blushed and continued, "she is what humans call a succubus"

"A succubus? You mean like the kind that takes your soul through intercourse?" I asked as I glanced over at Emmett, spread out on the couch like a sleeping giant.

Bella nodded then got up and held out her hand out towards me. I looked up at her and grabbed her hand using it as a lever to get up. We stood close enough to where I could hear her heartbeat through her shirt, or maybe it was her blood inside of me that made me so receptive to it. I wrapped one hand around her waist and placed my fingers on the middle of her back, my finger tips burned as I pushed her closer to me. I breathed her in, her smell intoxicating. Her hand moved up to my chest and lingered there. I leaned in for a redo of before, I craved to kiss her lips again but as I drew closer a loud piercing sound split through my ears. I pulled away and grabbed my temples in pain.

"What's happening Edward?" Bella asked, alarmed. She moved closer and reached out for me but the noise flared.

Suddenly the lights seemed too bright, everything started to pulse slightly and I felt nauseated. I fell to my knees and shouting in pain,

"What is it? What's wrong?" she got to her knees and held me. I then realized I was the only one who could hear the noise. How could she not hear this, it was so loud I felt as if my eardrums were bleeding. Then just as I thought it, a trickle of blood ran down my hands.

"Oh shit Edward, what the fuck is going on? Is it my blood?"

Suddenly the noise stopped and replaced itself with silence, a deafening silence that stretched itself for miles and brought me back to my feet. I could see Bella speaking frantically below me but I could not hear the words coming out of her mouth. Something felt as if it were pulling me towards it, as if I were a magnet and what pulled me had the same components. I looked around and saw the glowing sword now levitating off the floor, it was hypnotizing, I could not take my eyes off it. I saw movement from the corner of my eye but I could not look anywhere else but at the sword.

It was glowing just as it had before but this time it wasn't just me who could see it. As I began walking towards it, I noticed Bella try to use all her strength to hold me back but this time I was somehow stronger than her, her strength was like a child's tug. With a small shove she went flying back into the wall. I could not believe my strength nor could I believe I could hurt her. I was like a moth to a flame, unable to look anywhere but at the sword or move anywhere but towards it. It felt like a rope attached to the sword, slithered into my body; dove into the skin of my waist, coiled around the torso and was pulling me towards it.

The sword was not natural. It was an anomaly. There was something strange about it that I could not place, something eerily attractive that drew me to it. When I finally reached it, I stood in front and hesitated before my own arm reached up on its own. My fingers nearly touched the ivory handle before I was knocked unconscious.

I heard noises above, below and all around—voices—fear squeezed my chest. The place was shaped like an oval amphitheater. Sand covered the floor, a brick faced concrete shaped the walls. It held hundreds of people seated in a teared arrangement that overlooked a cage in the middle, fenced by wire where it seemed as if a bloodied woman was clubbing another to death. The crowd shouted and cheered while the blood splattered out of the cage and into their faces and clothes. Some of the words they shouted where completely foreign- others were familiar. I flinched every time the club hit the lifeless body.

"There's no ticket back edge-walker" Jasper said , perhaps he noticed the fear in my face. I chuckled nervously and turned away from the fight, "You know...I never thought you'd actually go along with this" he cleared his throat and cracked his neck.

I peered at him with confusion, noticing how uncomfortable he was.

He continued "I guess what I'm trying to say is- I was wrong... about you" A storm of emotions wrenched my gut, twisted and pulled. Confusion. Curiosity. Panic. Fear. I never thought I'd hear those words from Jasper, I honestly thought he'd be the one to kill me if this fight did not.

"It's fine. I must admit I was wrong about you too" I replied, "You're not the asshole everyone says you are"

His face turned towards me posthaste and twisted in shock, I grinned and moved passed him to walk ahead. A grin quickly grazed his lips as he caught up to me. "Now, we must sign you up for the fight. Do not forget you are my fighter, that means no talking unless instructed" he whispered and guided us to a tent that was covered by tapestries.

Jasper pulled back the front slit of the thick tapestry and we entered the tent. It was small but decorated quite luxuriously with threaded red pillows atop of red Victorian couches where finely dressed men smoked large cigars. My eyes immediately fell on a centered table where a thin man with a large English mustache sat with his full attention focused on a paper at hand. Something about his aura told me he was the man we were here to see. He was dressed in a velvet burgundy suit with a matching ascot and patterned vest. His clothes were enough to give away his Outaker status. The conversations seized when the men saw us enter and their faces twisted with contempt and rebuttal under clouds of smoke. I noted their faces were not rebutting me but Ondine. The seemed to be offended by the sight of her. One of the men finally spoke but directed his words to the other men in the room,

"See gentleman, just as I had mentioned, all the money in hell cannot buy you pride"

We watched them laugh in unison and I could tell Jasper was becoming irritated by the men. The rooms attention suddenly shifted towards the thin man in the middle, who no longer had his attention on the paper but on us. He eye'd us with curiosity before shifting back in his large Victorian chair. His fingers played with the end of his mustached before he finally spoke,

"Ondine" his eyes lit up as he said her name and when he smiled, a wide toothy grin, a strange ominous feeling surrounded me.

"Welcome back"


	11. A Deal

Year Unknown - The Underworld (Third Gate)

"It's your fault! You should've been there" my mothers fist crashed hard against my chest, over and over she hit me as she repeated herself. Her strength depleting with every hit until she could not hold herself up any longer and fell down to the ground. Her weeping did not seize and neither did her threats. I stood there and let her hit me, feeling the fresh warm tears fall down my face and onto my already messy shirt.

"Ma'm please" the cop finally said while slowly approaching her, he tried his best to sympathize but the woman had just lost her son, she needed someone to blame. Why not the one kid who was still alive, the one who had been a 'surprise' but really a mistake.

"They burned him Edward, they burned him alive and where were you? He was your brother for god sake, you must've known he was in danger!" she said, "I-I" I stuttered, feeling the words knotted on my throat but unable to untangle them, I stayed quiet.

The cop helped her up and carried her lifeless body to a chair by the dinner table. I could not take my eyes off of the blurry police lights outside the house. Last time I looked at the watch it was 2:00 AM which was when the cops knocked on the door to tell us the news. Dad must've been gone for an hour so it must be around 3:00 AM now.

It's late.

James is dead.

I have class tomorrow.

'His burnt body was found by the dumpsters behind the pier' was what the cops said, they needed to identify the body so my father rushed out with them. Mom could not move.

I should have been there- I thought. James, the prodigy boy with a scholarship to any IVY league school in the world. Most likely to suceed, most likely to date an actress, most likely to be burnt alive and dumped at 2:00 AM inside a garbage truck. MY brother whom everybody knew as the golden boy was tangled in a web of deceit. That night at the pier he told me about his gambling addiction and about the debt he owed. We could sell the house, sell the cars, sell our clothes and still not have enough money to pay the men he owed money too.

"We're gonna need you to come down to the station with us kid, we could use any information you may have"

The cops hand on my shoulder brought me back from the trance the lights had me on. I blinked in a hypnotic state at the man in blue and nodded my head.

The thin mans lips recoiled back behind his wide grin, his yellow fangs protruded when he spoke.

"I must say, this really is a surprise"

The men around us were silent, still watching us intently. I could see and feel every movement in the room, I knew when one of them would shift before they even shifted, one of the side effects of the blood. Everything was enhanced.

What I knew of Ondine was the information Alice had gathered through her visions. A wealthy outaker who has a knack for the fights, but something seemed to be missing here in her information. Why were they looking at us so strangely, not to mention the comment the man had made which was clearly about Ondine.

"A surprise?" Jasper asked,

I stood erect behind him, it was difficult to see his face but he seemed to be confused just as I was.

"You've come to wage I gather?" he continued "Truthfully after your last fight we all thought you..well we thought that would be your last fight"

"Hoped" another man mocked and the rest snickered, the same man who had spoken first. I turned and glared at the man surrounded by a cloud of smoke, he was big enough to take almost the whole couch. His suit jacket was hanging on by a single button that seemed as if it were about to burst.

"You got a problem, boy?" he asked, biting hard on the tip of the tobacco and glaring back. I smirked and directed my body towards him,

"Not yet"

He struggled to get up from the couch, his stomach getting up before him. The large man took the cigar out of his mouth and spat out the remnants, some of it lading on my face.

"Well why don't we get to the problem and solve it right now" his stomach pushed up against me with every word. I wiped the leftover spit from my face and grinned, maybe the side effects of this blood were that I'd crave for trouble.

I tilted my head back and slammed it forward against his, feeling the immediate flow of blood pour down my forehead.

Usually trouble followed me like the plague without the need to find it but I wanted to hurt this shithead more than anything right at this moment. All the men in the room stood in defense, their pupils grew and turned their whole eyes a pitch black I'd seen before. They reminded me of a pack of wolves, the way they surrounded me.

Jasper turned towards me, his eyebrows raised in pure horror but my eyes lingered on the wide eyed fat man who was clutching his broken nose with both his hands. I heard curse words and threats from all sides but I could not hold back my laughter, I too was in shock from my sudden reaction to headbutt the man.

"What is the meaning of this Ondine!?" shouted the thin man, quickly coming around his desk and standing in front of the fat man who was trying to launch towards me.

"We don't want any trouble Adrian, we just want to wage in the fight" Jasper moved in front of me and raised his hands in defense,

"I apologize for my fighters behavior, you know they can be impulsive when they're coming down from the B"

Adrian looked from Jasper to me and back towards the fat man who shouted back, "You brought a junkie to fight?" his brows furrowed in the middle and his fangs poked out with distaste. I saw the drops of blood drip in slow motion from his broken nose down to his mouth.

"He'll be clean before the fight" Jasper answered, straightening his posture. I recalled Bella mentioning something about B, a mixture between nurim blood and chemicals that was eventually sold in the streets to junkies who got high off of it, similar to meth back home, except here it was called B.

"There will be NO fight, not after the reckless display from this druggie" Adrian answered and my heart dropped, suddenly everything that was in slow motion sped up to current time. I looked over at Jasper for help but all he did was glare at me.

Fuck, I had ruined us. I couldn't feel my heart beating on my chest anymore, I tried to think of ways I could fix this but I saw the fat mans hand reach out and force Adrian's shoulder down, he whispered something in his ear all the while looking towards us. Adrian turned with a raised brow towards him, "Are you sure?" he asked and the man nodded.

"Very well" he cleared his throat and continued, "I'll allow your man to fight under one condition" my eyes tightened around Adrian's thin lips as I waited impatiently for him to continue, my head began to pound. I hand't noticed I had been holding my breath until he finally spoke and I let out a sigh.

"Your wage will increase by 50%" I looked towards the fat man, Creed and saw his smile widen, his sharp bloody teeth shinning under his patchy beard as Adrian continued to speak.

"If he loses the fight, Creed will take ownership of him"

An increase in the wage meant more money we would have to wage, money we did not have, not to mention the part where I'd spend eternity being tortured by this Creed fellow who I imagined would do his very best to make sure I regretted the moment I decided to enter The Pit.

"We agree to your terms but we have a request of our own-" I began, "In the case I do win, then all Lady Ondine would ask is for one of your slaves...a woman" The request gathered alarm from both men. Adrian regarded Jasper with curiosity, his arms folded on his chest. I thought of Leah, there had to be a way we could make sure she was here.

"A woman?" he asked, "That's an odd request, which woman is this?"

"That is besides the point. Agree to that and you have a deal for our part" Jasper answered, his back straightened with a powerful stance. It was clear he would not be taking no for an answer.

Adrian remained quiet, analyzing Jasper and I for what felt like hours. Everyone quietly watched him move back behind his desk and sit down with a loud HUMPH. He placed a pipe on his lips and lit a match to it, inhaling deeply before he spoke again.

"I agree to your terms, he may fight"

Jasper gave him a firm nod before turning and grabbing me roughly by my arm while pulling me out of the yurt.

"You better win these damn fights or I swear to Akvan I will kill you myself"


	12. Leah

Year Unknown - The Underworld (The Pit)

"I'm covered in blood" I mentioned as I looked down at my current state. Once again, I was covered in dried blood that wasn't only mine.

I shrugged off my coat with a sense of disgust and it created a cloud of sand around us as it hit the floor.

We were standing outside the entrance of the cave where the fighters were kept, an iron gate was the only thing separating me and an uncertain future.

"Leave it, it'll work in your favor during the fight" Jasper replied hastily, eyeing our surroundings as he crossed his arms across his chest

"You know what you did back there could've fucked everything up right? It's a miracle we weren't found out"

My hands raised to my hair, slicking back and pulling at the long pieces that had fallen over my face.

"I know. I'm a fucking idiot, I was waiting for you to say something." I said as I shook my head, "It's just...recently there have been these moments when it feels like something has taken over me I'm someone else, someone I can't control"

I'd been conditioned to resort to violence from a young age, constantly waiting for the next bad thing to happen but never had it been this bad. The impulse to put myself in these dangerous situations has been less rational that usual.

Jasper shook his head and let out a loud sigh and turned to face me, "So maybe you should start by learning to control your anger after you get out of here. You're gonna need it out there but" he stopped and swallowed hard before continuing, his stare suddenly getting intense.

"We need to talk about what happened before with…the sword"

I took off my shirt and picked up the sandy coat, dusting it off in the process. I suddenly got a glimpse of my upper body and realized I looked way more built than I normally was. My stomach carried a six pack that I hadn't seen since I was in high school. I flexed my arms and saw the biceps protrude furiously,

"Are you seeing this" I asked with wonder, twisting and turning myself in amazement.

"You're not listening- but yes, you're ripped, it's the blood you'll get over it"

"That's incredible! I haven't been this built since-" I said with excitement before stopping to recall when I had felt this strong,

"I've never been this built actually"

Jasper rolled his eyes and ripped the clothes from my hand,

"Listen Edge-walker, I get that you're trying to avoid the subject but, I think we should talk about what happened back at the shelter with the SWORD."

To be honest, I had ignored his question on purpose hoping he would get the hint. I hadn't wanted to think about it anymore and truthfully there wasn't anything to talk about, It was like I said I couldn't remember anything.

Rather I just wanted to put everything in a dark corner in my mind.

'Good luck with that Buster'

I jumped at the sudden voice, it had been Bella's for sure, but how?

I looked around alarmed but other than Jasper and I everyone else was a complete stranger.

Maybe it was my subconscious coming to terms with the fact that I'd knocked Bella unconscious back at the shelter, which was the biggest reason to never talk about it again. It made me cringe at the thought of facing her again.

I looked down at my clenched fists,

"I-I told you what happened" I swallowed hard as I recalled the memory, "I was talking to Bella, then suddenly that sword began to glow like it was possessed or something and the rest is just pretty much blank, I don't remember anything else"

As hard as I tried to remember anything happening after I saw the sword, I could not, it was as if my memories from the time after had all been wiped clean.

Emmett mentioned he tried to shake me awake from the trance but it was useless, even Skully's bites on my ankle didn't budge me, but I sure felt the aftermath of it.

It wasn't until Eric used his rune to possess me that he was able to stop the trance. All I remembered was waking up surrounded by everyone's confused expressions hovering above me.

"but that sword-"

"I know how it sounds, but honestly Jasper we're in Hell okay, I mean, it can't be the first time you heard of a sword glowing right?"

"No, but I've only heard of one glowing sword"

I interrupted him, holding on to the possibility that if this was all real then the glowing sword had to be real as well, it was all I had to make me believe I wasn't going nuts and now I was also hearing voices.

"Plus it's not the first time I felt drawn to the sword, back when we first arrived at the hideout, before I drank the blood I-"

"Wait, you're telling me this happened to you before?" he started getting louder and fidgety, "Edward I don't think you understand what this means!"

"Clearly" I snorted,

"That sword it's not just any kind of sword. Isabella is just it's keeper, the swords belongs to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud horn surrounded the Pit, I flinched in alarm at the sudden noise and turned my eyes towards the ring. Our surroundings had suddenly gone quiet when the horn seized, and it was replaced by the sound of a microphone turning on. A man stood in the center of the ring, dressed in all black wearing a hood over his head that covered everything but his eyes.

"LIMBO! ARE YOU ENTERTAINED?"

The crowd roared in agreement. The place felt alive, as if on its own, it had become a monster.

"DO YOU WANT MORE BLOOD?" he shouted into the microphone, igniting the crowd once again. I could feel the whole place vibrating beneath me.

My stomach stirred and suddenly I became aware of myself, so small within the beast that was this place. I looked back at Jasper, my palms felt sweatier than usual.

He grabbed my shoulders and faced me towards him,

"I will not leave you here Edward. I know we've had our differences but what you're doing is braver than any Edgewalker I have ever met has done and I respect that" his hands squeezed tight,

"But you must fight, fight like your life depends on it, because it does."

I nodded and inhaled sharply. I didn't know Jasper for long but in the short time I had gotten to know him, I knew he wasn't the kind of man who would say these things to just about anyone.

I found myself opening the iron gate that would lead me down a dark path, whatever it was, I was ready for it.

The place where the fighters were kept was just a dark and bloody cave, but it was full of all kinds of people; men, women, children, monsters.

Some of the fighters were kept in these cages, separated, but I didn't know what exactly differentiated one from another. I kept my head down as I walked ahead.

I didn't know what to do from here on out, I was alone now, all I could do was wait. My plan was to watch everyone and try to get as much information as possible, weakness, strengths, anything that could help me gain the upper hand. Who knew who I would be fighting?

The place buzzed with conversations, but the languages were all different. I looked around and spotted a corner to sit on besides one of the cages.

"Edward?" a small voice called from inside the cage. I looked around but couldn't decipher who it was coming from.

"Edward, over here" my eyes fixed on a woman sitting against the bars. Her hair was short and covered in blood and she looked dirty to the point of being unrecognizable, but I knew who she was; Olive skin, native features, she was the female version of Paul.

I ran over to her and sat on the sand across her, the metal bars separating us.

"Leah! You know me?" I asked, confused.

"Shh, you must whisper" she said, putting her finger to her lips, "They cannot know why you are here" A smile then lit up her face then, "But yes, I know who you are, Edward. I have been waiting for you, Alice told me everything"

I chuckled with relief, "God, am I glad to see you're alive, I was beginning to-"

"God?" Suddenly a large black shadow covered me, a deep voice with a Russian accent continued,

"God not here, little man only Victor."

It felt like ages before my eyes finally reaching his face, the man was as tall as a mountain and just as wide. There were muscles in places I didn't know could have muscles.

His face was badly disfigured, a thick ominous scar started at his chin and traced most of the left side up to his scalp. I shuddered with disgust as his tiny blue eyes peered at me from within his large face, the left side of his lip was nonexistent, giving him a permanent scowl.

"Um..do I know you?"

His arms reached out faster than I could see, I gasped in pain as he picked me up by the neck slammed me against the cold metal bar, holding me at his eye level. My head felt like it was going to explode, I kicked and scratched at him, but he was too strong.

"You don't, but you will"

His barely-there eyebrows raised, and it seemed like he wanted to smile, the glint in his eyes showed the pleasure he was getting from this.

"Let him go or I'll call the guards!" Leah shouted,

His grip loosened and I fell hard to the ground, heaving and groaning in pain.

He lowered himself to face me and I crawled backwards, but my back hit the bars again.

"I see you soon little man" I glared up at Victor as he straightened back up and turned, a dark laugh leaving him while disappeared out into the Pit.

"Are you alright?" Leah's hand reached out through the bars and touched my shoulder. I nodded hesitantly, my chest still heaving as I panted. Who the fuck was that guy?

'That's who you have to fight, genius'

Bella's voice again remarked. I jerked at the sudden voice and looked around. What the hell was going on with me, was I really losing it?

'You're not crazy, it is me. I'm using my rune to communicate with you.'

"What the fuck?" I shouted. Leah's eyes looked puzzled, her hand fell, and she cradled it against her chest. I chuckled and tapped my index finger to my head,

"No, it's just" I stopped before remembering the need to be discrete, continuing in a whisper, "Bella is inside my head"

Her brows met at the middle, "You mean she's using her telepathy? But you're an edge-walker"

"It's a long story, that'd I'd be happy to tell you once we get out of here"

"If, we get out here" she mouthed, her words low enough I could have missed them.

"Leah" I turned to face her, reaching out and taking her hand in mine. I held her gaze, keeping my voice as firm as I could "I swear to you I will get you out of here, don't lose hope, you've made it this far."

She smiled and nodded, a few tears trailed down her face, creating a clean path through her dirty complexion. If she had given up hope I wouldn't have blamed her, this place could do that even to the toughest person.

'Very touching. Now get your head in the game, they're about to call your name'

I looked around, I needed to be aware of my surroundings. Wounded bodies were being constantly dragged back inside the cave, some seemed completely lifeless as they were just thrown into a corner and left there. I tried to focus on the conversations but i still decipher the language.

"Leah" I said, turning back to face her "Do you know anything that could help me? If I have to fight that block of muscle out there I will be dead in an instant without any backup"

She stayed quiet but I could tell her mind was working by the way her eyes focused.

"Edward, no one has ever fought Victor and survived. He is protected, Creed's fighter. He was in the Russian mafia when he was alive they called him The Butcher"

A lightbulb turned on in my head, "Wait- I know this creed fellow, he's the fat man who works with the mustache dude, pretty much owns this shithole no?"

Leah's face turned dark, "Adrian"

"This is a set up" I said, "What are the odds that after I make a deal with Creed he sends his best fighter to fight me in the arena"

Her eyes widened, her hands raised up to the bars and she gripped the tight.

"You made a deal with Creed? What is your right mind possessed you to do such a thing"

I sighed and leaned my back against the cold bars, "Like I said, long story"

She was quiet then, we both knew the only way that man could be defeated was by some kind of strike of luck and i was in Hell so that was a far-fetched hope.

'Giving up so easily?' Bella retorted,

'What else do you want from me? I'm here aren't I? I said I would fight, I never said I would win'

'The sword'

I bit my lip, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. Fuck. The moment I was dreading.

'It's your brothers'


	13. Cut His Arm Or I'll Cut Yours

Year Unknown - The Underworld (The Pit)

Perhaps it is true that the choices we make when we're alive ultimately define the outcome of how we die. They pave the road towards our eminent death. You could say I've dug my own grave and laid myself down to die, what with the choices I've made, who would ultimately say I'm a sane person or perhaps it isn't death I crave but that feeling of peace. The moment where it's all forgotten and everything I've done, everything I've seen is erased.

Yeah, maybe that's it.

My hands felt sweaty and heavy, almost as if they had turned to anchors and were pulling me down deep into the bottom of the ocean.

I spread my palms and massaged the wetness that had gathered there, feeling the strange sensation of raindrops falling onto them. Just as I pondered where the water was leaking from a drop of water fell from above me and trickled down my nose, landing onto my palm.

I flinched at the sudden drop and looked up, an angry sky stared down at me.

Confused, I looked ahead into the distance and was met with a vast ocean. It seemed as if a storm was approaching, along the horizon tourniquets of water and wind were beginning to form.

Just then one drop followed another, then another and suddenly it was thundering. I closed my eyes and let the comfort of the rain bathe me as I turned slowly in circles, breathing in the scent of mud, rain and sea water. I stopped and opened my eyes, strange sensation of déjà vu filled me, like a glass being filled to the rim. The place was all too familiar, an empty pier, a storm.

Suddenly the sound of seagulls lit a light bulb in my head and I drew in a sharp breath, knowing exactly where I was.

I have to be dreaming, I thought.

The rain began to pour much harder, pooling beneath me. I looked down and jumped in surprise when I saw the reflection in the water. The person staring back at me, wasn't me.

My heart began to race, this must be a dream.

"James" I mouthed in terror.

"Brother" The man in the reflection muttered, almost to himself.

I felt as if my own blood had left my body. He reached out from the pool of water and touched my foot, pulling himself up through the puddle, almost as if it were from another dimension. Suddenly, he was in front of me.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it" he smiled, and his dark eyes analyzed me with a glint of curiosity, much like I was analyzing him. "My My, how you've grown little brother-not so little anymore"

"James? Your face…" It was hard to see with the rain in my eyes. I squinted my eyes and tried to take in the stranger standing in front of me.

I was unable to recognize the man standing in front of me. His face and skin had an unnatural grayness to it much different from the tan boy I remembered, his hair which covered half of his face was much longer, hovering just over his shoulders, but it was his visible eye that shook me, it stared back at me shimmering with inexplicable malice with a scar that wrapped itself around it.

Perhaps it was a nightmare, after all because no reality could twist my brother so horribly. It was hard for me to even believe the man standing in front of me was my brother.

"Trouble always seems to follow us, doesn't it?" his hand moved to my shoulder and squeezed it, "I'm not surprised you ended up in the pit"

My heart was beating so loudly I could barely hear what he was saying. I tried to swallow the lump that was building inside my throat and stammered, "I'm dreaming" I said, more to myself than to him. I closed my eyes and pinched the skin of my arm, immediately feeling the pain course through my body.

I slowly opened my eyes, half expecting him to be gone, to have woken but there he was. I wanted this to be real, I wanted to reach out and embrace him, but I couldn't move.

James smiled and it almost seemed to take over half of his face, his hand fell from my shoulder and he opened his arms out wide besides him, all the while turning slowly.

"Isn't this the perfect place for a reunion?"

The rain poured roughly but he seemed unfazed by it, in fact, the closer I looked the more apparent it was that the water didn't even seem to be touching him at all. Rather it hovered over him like a halo of water.

"No, it isn't-" I answered, looking around the empty pier, the horizon was nonexistent, shaded by the torrential storm that was now above us. The last memory in this pier wasn't one I wanted to remember, let alone relive. This was the day James told me about his debt, I could still recall the look on his face, the fear in his eyes and in his voice. My hands began to shake, I balled my fists to stop them but his eyes caught my motion.

"Do you remember?" he said, his face turning darker as he got closer. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to keep the memories from resurfacing. James repeated himself, his tone persistent on an answer.

"Oh, come one little brother, I know you remember" When I opened my eyes he was just inches away from me and I glared at him.

I could see the scar on his eye now clearly, red, like a fresh wound.

"I remember everything James" I opened my eyes and made sure our eyes met then, knowing I needed to face my own demons, "I remember mom trying to kill herself, more than once!" the pitch of my voice heightened, all the memories coming back like a movie being rewound "I remember dad sleeping in your room every night, cuddling a bottle of whiskey" I pushed him then and he stumbled backwards "I remember how the police couldn't identify your body from how burnt it was, do you know what that did to our family? DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA?!" I shouted and pushed him again, harder this time.

"But you know what really broke us, James?" I felt the knot in my throat get bigger and my shoulders began to shake as I held back the tears that were hidden by the rain.

I gritted my teeth and tried my best to continue"I remember, going to a young girls funeral and not being able to look her mother in the eyes because my own brother...took her fucking daughters life"

The corner of his lips turned slightly downwards, turning his sullen expression into a wicked one. His brows met at the middle as he clenched his jaw, forcing the muscles to protrude.

"You want to talk about funerals, Edward? How about I tell you how your little friend Isabella died, hm?" He took a step closer as he continued "Should I tell you how she woke up one night and slit her fathers throat in his sleep or how she set her house on fire and burned herself alive"

My shoulders dropped.

No. He's lying.

I whispered, shaking my head.

"You want to save your little friends? You want to save me? Well, time is running out, kiddo. Better move fast"

"No No, I-" My arm felt as if it unhinged and I reached out for him, but my hand went through him this time, as if I were putting it through water.

Suddenly I blinked and I was at the entrance of the arena. I rubbed my eyes and looked around, the pier, the storm, James, they were all gone.

Something had my hands stuck together, I raised my hands to eye level and noticed there were silver chains wrapped around them.

Then without a second to wonder, something forced me forward, prompting me to lose my balance and land on the sandy floor. I coughed out some of the dust that found its way into my mouth.

The laughter of what seemed like hundreds of people suddenly turned into booing shouts. I was forced up to my feet by the same chains that bound me and found another man bound besides me and another connected to him.

"Get up! We must march to Olympus and embrace our death" said the one besides me a raven skinned man with a bald head. He was the tallest one of us three and yet the leanest.

"Die with honor boy, or see yourself the mock of this piss filled arena"

The other man sneered, "Akvan shits and pisses on you and you return it with what, embrace?" he spat near the middle man's feet and continued "As if the Overtakers haven't pissed on us enough already. The words fall from your mouth like the shit from my ass"

"Who are you? both of you" The thought of fighting with two other men eased some of my nerves.

One second, I was looking in the face of the brother I hadn't seen in years and the next I was chained to three men and thrown into a pit to 'embrace my death.' This just kept getting better and better.

The tall man spoke first, "I'm Andre and the one eye'd asshole chained to my other wrist is Gunnar"

I looked him over and realized one of his eye sockets was in fact empty, his one eye looked towards me and glared. "See something you like?"

I blinked away, clearing my throat in the process, "Not particularly but," I stopped, suddenly feeling a sense of vertigo.

"You're about to lose your innards kid, best speak without shame now before you can't at all" said the middle one.

"I'm not fucking dying in this shit hole" I said between gritted teeth,

Gunnar laughed, "Kid-you're already dead"

"LIMBODIANS, ARE YOU READY FOR MORE BLOOD?" I could hear the elongating sound of his last word surrounding the whole arena, becoming shadowed by the shouts of the people inside of it "YOU'VE BEEN PATIENT AND NOW YOU WILL BE REWARDED! FINALLY, WHAT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR..." he paused abruptly and there was an intimidate silence.

The word blood lingered in my mind and repeated itself over and over inside my head, as if it's own definition brought life to the word. My own body began to feel like a stranger to me. I suddenly felt a sensation of ants crawling under the skin of my arm and as I lifted it to eye level I could see movement inside my veins, they crawled rapidly up and down, changing the movement to simulate that of snakes slithering away. I began to heave in a panic and as the movements began to hasten my struggle to get whatever was inside of my turned into screams of hysteria.

"Hey! Hey! kid, what the hell is going on with you?" Andre tried to stiffen his violently flailing arm which was attached to mine but was struggling to do so,

"My arms" I began to shake, my eyes darted from one arm to another"There's something inside my arms, it's crawling inside, I can feel it"

In front of me, the sound of thick chains shrieked as men dressed in black pulled to open a gate that was ominously placed in the middle, they heaved as they pulled until a loud CLANK resonated within the arena, creating a dust cloud in the entrance of the door. The crowd was suddenly silent, their stares fixed on the darkness behind the gate.

"Dammit! He's gonna get us killed Andre, settle him down" Gunnar hissed.

Andre turned towards him and glared before turning his worried eyes back to me.

All of a sudden the ground began to shake, and out of the darkness of the gate a giant emerged, he was covered in armor from head to toe. The only visible sighting of his appearance was the small opening of his helmet, which exposed his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Right before the thundering cheers of the crowd unfolded again, Andre mouthed something almost inaudible to the ear of a regular human like me and yet I heard it as if he were whispering it in my own ear.

"The Butcher"

The loud sound of something cracking filled my ear and I lurched backwards in pain, my spine bent back completely. I screamed in agony but the screams were lost withing the shouts of the arena. Both Andre and Gunnar's eyes snapped towards me, opening in horror.

Dear god, I thought.

Please, don't let me die.

This was the first time I thought of God or even spoke to him directly. If I were God, I'd let me get butchered by this giant, but God was merciful and Kind, he forgave, at least that's what my mother told me.

CRACK

I lurched forward, the snap of my bones bringing me to my knees. I shrieked in pain again. My sweaty hair covered my eyes, moving up and down with the motion of my heavy breathing.

Three swords were thrown from above, falling with a thump on the sand around us. Gunnar quickly retrieved his and Andre moved after to another up, dragging me forward with him.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" Gunnar asked, "Chop off his hand and be done with it Andre, he's going to get us all killed"

The giant stood still at the other end of the arena, his large chest heaving beneath his armor. He grasped his large sword in his hand and squeezed the handle around his large arm. The sword must've weighed 50kg, only a man his size could carry, let alone swing it.

The ground began to shake again as the giant took one, two steps and then began launching towards us.

"DO IT NOW ANDRE OR I CUT YOURS AND YOU BOTH DIE TOGETHER" Gunnar shouted and placed the sword between them.

Andres sweat pooled on his brow as he repeated himself over and over, "Get up man, Get up." His tone losing patience, his eyes moving from the speedy giant to me. I was unable to move, every bone in my back felt broken. The agonizing state I was currently in was too much to bare.

Of course God wouldn't listen, I was in Hell.


End file.
